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Criminology Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Criminology

The Lesser Of Two Evils? A Qualitative Study Of Offenders' Preferences For Prison Compared To Alternatives, David May, Alisha Williams, Peter B. Wood Jan 2008

The Lesser Of Two Evils? A Qualitative Study Of Offenders' Preferences For Prison Compared To Alternatives, David May, Alisha Williams, Peter B. Wood

Safety, Security and Emergency Management Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Recent work has demonstrated that many offenders will choose to serve prison rather than any amount of a community-based sanction. This primarily quantitative research has found that offender-generated exchange rates are influenced by a wide variety of experiences and characteristics. Missing from this literature is a qualitative evaluation of why offenders might make this choice. We present qualitative data from 618 probationers and parolees to explain why those who have experienced imprisonment are less willing to serve community sanctions than their counterparts, and more willing to serve prison. Results hold implications for deterrence, recidivism, rehabilitation, and correctional policy issues.


Lessons Learned From Punishment Exchange Rates: Implications For Research, Theory, And Correctional Policy, David May, Peter Wood, Amy Eades Dec 2007

Lessons Learned From Punishment Exchange Rates: Implications For Research, Theory, And Correctional Policy, David May, Peter Wood, Amy Eades

David May

A growing number of studies have used exchange rates to examine perceptions of the punitivieness of prison when compared to alternative sanctions among prisoners, probationers, parolees, correctional professionals, and judges. Without exception, the findings from these research efforts call into question the punishment continuum that anchors probation as the least punitive sanction and prison as the most punitive. In this paper, we combine findings from these research efforts with data collected from 1271 adults to propose a revised continuum of punishment. Additionally, we provide a theoretical framework to help explain how offenders experience correctional sanctions, and offer suggestions for policy …