Crime and Punishment (and Rehabilitation)

The United States has about 2 million people behind bars at any given time — an incarceration rate more than twice that of any other economically advanced country. There are significant costs to this — in terms of the resources needed to run prisons and jails, the losses associated with having so many people not participating in the economy, and the price paid by individuals themselves when they are removed from society. Jennifer Doleac joins EconoFact Chats to discuss how rigorous economic research is reshaping our understanding of crime, punishment, and rehabilitation. She draws on her new book The Science of Second Chances: A Revolution in Criminal Justice to highlight policies and programs that are effective in crime prevention, reducing recidivism, and helping the incarcerated re-enter society.