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SPECIFIC DETERRENCE

Sociologyindex, Sociology Books 2012, General Deterrence, Specific Deterrence 

Specific Deterrence as used in criminal justice, refers to crime prevention achieved through instilling fear in the specific individual being punished such that they refrain from future violation of the law.

Specific Deterrence is also referred to as individual deterrence. General deterrence can be defined as the impact of the threat of legal punishment on the public at large. Specific deterrence can be seen as the impact of the actual legal punishment on those who are apprehended. Thus, general deterrence results from the perception of the public that laws are enforced and that there is a risk of detection and punishment when laws are violated. Specific deterrence results from actual experiences with detection, prosecution, and punishment of offenders.

A Reconceptualization of General and Specific Deterrence 
MARK C. STAFFORD, MARK WARR 
The distinction between general and specific deterrence is widely recognized and accepted by deterrence researchers, and is used commonly to classify deterrence studies. However, the logical and empirical grounds for the distinction are not as clear as they might appear, and the conventional conception has done more to obfuscate than to clarify the deterrence process. Following a discussion of these issues, the authors propose a reconceptualization of general and specific deterrence, and apply it to several current controversies in the deterrence literature. - jrc.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/30/2/123

Specific Deterrence and Sentence Length - The Case of Drunk Drivers - MICHAEL WEINRATH, University of Winnipeg, JOHN GARTRELL, University of Alberta 
Researchers have assessed the effect of longer prison sentences by conducting aggregate-level studies of general deterrence. However, relatively little attention has been paid to the specific deterrent effects of longer custody sentences on individual offenders. The authors evaluated the effect of sentence length on drunk driving recidivism by using official records in a retrospective research design. A sample of 514 incarcerated drunk drivers we are followed up for 24 to 45 months in Alberta, Canada. The study searched for possible sentencing thresholds, the optimum sentence length at which point deterrent effects are maximized, and used multivariate statistical analysis to control for possible confounding background variables. The authors observed that sentence length exerted consistent deterrent effects on repeat drunk driving, even for chronic offenders. Shorter sentences were less effective in discouraging drunk driving recidivism, while sentences longer than 6 months did not produce additional benefits.
ccj.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/17/2/105

Reconceptualizing Deterrence: An Empirical Test of Personal and Vicarious Experiences 
RAYMOND PATERNOSTER, ALEX PIQUERO 
In a recent article, Stafford and Warr (1993) presented a reconceptualization of the deterrence doctrine where general deterrence is taken to be the result of persons' vicarious experiences. Such vicarious experiences include, among other things, knowledge of the criminal activity of others and the consequences or lack of consequences of that activity. Specific deterrence is taken to be the result of persons' own personal experiences. These personal experiences include, among other things, own experience with punishment and punishment avoidance. In their reconceptualized deterrence theory, persons may concurrently be subject to both general and specific deterrent effects, some persons may be affected more by one type of deterrence than the other, and the two types of deterrent effects may reinforce one another. In addition, they argue that their version of deterrence theory promises some insight into current controversies in the literature. In this article, the authors first review and expand Stafford and Warr's reconceptualization of deterrence, and then subject some central hypotheses to empirical test. Although the authors' data are modest and cannot test all of the implications of Stafford and Warr's argument, the findings indicate that Stafford and Warr's reconceptualization promises to be a fruitful line of inquiry for those interested in the development of deterrence theory. - jrc.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/32/3/251

Parole as Institutional Control: A Test of Specific Deterrence and Offender Misconduct 
Jon L. Proctor, Michael Pease, Westfield State College 
The use of parole as an institutional control mechanism is designed to reward inmate conformity with early release and punish nonconformity with continued confinement. Although much research has examined factors affecting parole board decisions, little research has focused on the control function of the parole decision. The present study, using deterrence theory, analyzes 233 offenders at the offender board review to determine the impact of the board's decision on offender misconduct. Results show lower rates of postreview misconduct for offenders denied parole hearings compared to offenders granted parole hearings. Furthermore, deterrence was strongest for high- and medium-rate offenders who were denied parole hearings. However, misconduct also decreased for high-rate offenders who were granted parole hearings. The authors recommend that correctional administrators consider the importance of parole as a mechanism for controlling institutional behavior among incarcerated inmates. - tpj.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/80/1/39

SPECIFIC DETERRENCE REVISITED: A QUASI-EXPERIMENT ON SENTENCE SEVERITY AND RECIDIVISM - Elizabeth Wiemers, Master of Arts, 2006
Directed By: Professor Shawn D. Bushway, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice
Abstract: This paper examines the utility of using a unique variation produced by a ruling in the Maryland sentencing guidelines as an instrumental variable in future research. The guidelines specify that at age 26 an offender’s juvenile record is discounted from the calculations, resulting in a lower sentencing grid placement and a shorter sentence. I examine in depth the appropriateness of this treatment rule as an instrumental variable for research and find that it is an effective instrument. The study also examines preliminary results produced by using an instrumental variable to estimate a relationship between sentence severity and recidivism. The use of instrumental variables corrects for the selection bias present in other studies in this area by allowing me to compare individuals affected by the treatment rule. The results indicate a slight deterrent effect of imprisonment; overall, increasing sentence length decreases future rates of recidivism. - drum.umd.edu

Specific deterrence and the DUI offender: The impact of a decade of reform
Authors: Kingsnorth, Rodney; Alvis, Lisa; Gavia, Glori
Abstract: Using a random sample of 1,231 cases from 1980, 1984, and 1988, this paper analyzes the relationship between increasing severity of penalties for misdemeanor DUI offenders and recidivism rates over a 24-month follow-up period. In contrast to other jurisdictions reported in the literature, legal reform mandating increased penalties was implemented rigorously by the judicial community. No associated decrease in recidivism rates over the study period could be established, however. It is hypothesized that this result may reflect either the absence of policies increasing the certainty of punishment or the structure of DUI punishments, which permits the DUI offender to choose among alternative sanctions and thus neutralizes the severity of punishment. An extremely strong relationship was observed between socioeconomic status (as measured by type of attorney representation) and defendant's choice of sanction. This finding suggests that the “extralegal” costs of criminal sanctions vary according to the offenders' socioeconomic backgrounds. - ingentaconnect.com

Does Imprisonment Create Specific Deterrence? Empirical Analysis of Recidivism of Finnish Prisoners - Anssi Keinänen and Tuukka Saarimaa, Department of Business and Economics, University of Joensuu
Abstract: In this paper we study the specific deterrence effects of imprisonment. We model the probability of recidivism of Finnish convicts who were released from prison followed for four years after their release by estimating a logistic regression model. We find that the probability of recidivism reduces with age. This is true for both men and women, although for women the pattern is less clear. According to our findings, the number of past prison sentences clearly increased the probability of recidivism, and furthermore, the duration of last prison spell seemed to have no effect on the probability of recidivism. - joensuu.fi

Judges in the punitive juvenile court: Organizational, career and ideological influences on sanctioning orientation - Authors: Bazemore, Gordon; Feder, Lynette
Abstract: As juvenile courts have undergone dramatic structural and procedural transformation in the past two decades, the primary rationale for court intervention has changed from treatment in the “best interests of the child” to desert-based punishment. This article uses data from a survey of Florida juvenile court judges to examine support for punitive sanctioning ideologies. Descriptive findings indicate strong support for both incapacitation and specific deterrence ideologies, and somewhat weaker commitment to retributive motivations for punishing juvenile offenders. In an effort to account for variation in judges' sanctioning attitudes, we compared three alternative explanatory models: organizational environment, individual experiences importation, and ideological influences. Multiple regression results failed to establish strong support for any of these models. One independent variable, however, victim emphasis, exerted a strong negative effect on retributive orientation and support for the incapacitation goal, but a moderate positive influence on specific deterrence. - ingentaconnect.com

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