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1Question: Does harsher punishment decrease crime rate?

1Question: Does harsher punishment decrease crime rate?

Time and time again, we return to the discussion on the effectiveness of harsher punishments – particularly capital punishment. Does it really increase the level of public security? We asked Dr Paweł Czarnecki from the Chair in Criminal Procedure of the JU Faculty of Law and Administration.

1Question is a series of articles by the University Marketing science communication unit, in which specialists and experts from various fields briefly discuss interesting issues related to the world, civilisation, culture, biology, history, and many more.

Does harsher punishment decrease crime rate? It's difficult to answer that question. According to the theories of law and economics, the perpetrator thinks rationally and will commit a crime when he or she decides that the gains outweigh the possible consequences. These gains can be both tangible and intangible (e.g. revenge or other type of satisfaction). Punishment, on the other hand, is one of the consequences – but not the only one. Other factors considered by the perpetrator, perhaps even more important, are detectability and probability of being convicted. Not every caught criminal is proven guilty, and not very guilty criminal is incarcerated. All these factors plan an important role when it comes to discouraging criminal activities.

No research proves conclusively that capital punishment discourages criminals.

To determine which factors play the most important role in discouraging criminals from breaking the law, the researchers have conducted a series of studies. However, no research proves conclusively that capital punishment discourages criminals. Conversely, a criminal who has committed a crime punishable by death may try to avoid being captured at all cost, which poses a greater danger to law enforcement officers. In prisons, criminals with nothing to lose might be more dangerous for both other inmates and guards. Luckily, the last execution in Poland took place in 1998, and the current legislation does not feature this type of punishment. After Poland ratified Protocol No. 13 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights, introducing death penalty into the system became virtually impossible. Currently, the harshest possible punishment in Poland is life imprisonment. In spite of what the politicians say, the crime rate in our country has lowered in the last 15 years.

Inevitability is key

In my opinion, harsher punishments don't lower the crime rate. What lowers it is the inevitability of punishment, i.e. detectability of crime and probability of conviction. We can use an everyday example to illustrate that. Many people choose not to buy bus and tram tickets. They figure that the risk of them being caught is very low, and fine collectability is something around 60–70%. So they are quite confident they will evade any consequences. However, the situation is completely different when it comes to trains, where their tickets will almost certain be inspected. Very few people decide to risk dodging the fare. Similarly, for several years now we've been increasing the severity of punishments for driving while intoxicated, but police officers still catch about 300 hundred drunk drivers a day. That's not the way to go.

Harsher punishments are not an effective means of reducing crime rate. Sometimes it's even the opposite. Long sentences cause prisoner stigmatisation and difficulties in reintegration into society. There's a very good example of this in The Shawshank Redemption. Brooks Hatlen, one of the film's protagonists, is released from prison after serving a 50-year sentence for a murder he committed as a 19-year old. He's completely unable to function in the society. He first tries to rob the shop he works in to return to prison. When that fails, he commits suicide.

Short-term punishments ("shock punishments") are oftentimes more effective than longer ones in term of crime prevention. The minimal space for prisoners allowed in Poland is three square metres per inmate in a correctional facility. Imagine it's a very hot summer, with four prisoners in a cell and showers once a week. Everyone's going to have enough of that after a month.

Harsh punishments carry a lot of financial consequences for the state, too. The cost of prisoner upkeep is about 2,800 PLN per prisoner, with 72,000 currently held in correctional facilities and several thousand pending for incarceration.

The type and severity of a punishment has to be tailored to individual prisoners.

Another thing is that for some people certain kinds of punishments might be more harsh than others. For a high-earning lawyer or doctor, paying a large fine is not a problem. But community sentence is. Community services take up time they could devote to their work or family. The type and severity of a punishment has to be tailored to individual prisoners.

Therefore, instead of harsher punishments, we should focus on educating our children about law. We should strive to develop an attitude in people that would allow them to identify themselves with the law and abide by it. Additionally, we should make the public space safer and well-lit at night, since it also discourages crime. It's also very important to increase police funding to boost detectability (which is constantly rising). Let's remember – it's not about severity, it's about inevitability.

Original text: www.nauka.uj.edu.pl

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