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Cited by 181Criminal Justice and Corrections AnalysisCriminal Justice and PenologyCrime Patterns and Interventions

DOES IMPRISONMENT ALTER THE LIFE COURSE? EVIDENCE ON CRIME AND EMPLOYMENT FROM A NATURAL EXPERIMENT

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LOEFFLER, CHARLES E.·2013·Criminology
DOI 10.1111/1745-9125.12000
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Abstract

Ex‐prisoners consistently manifest high rates of criminal recidivism and unemployment. Existing explanations for these poor outcomes emphasize the stigmatizing effects of imprisonment on prisoners seeking postrelease employment as well as the deleterious effects of imprisonment on prisoners’ attitudes and capabilities. However, these explanations must be distinguished from selection effects in the criminal sentencing process, which also could explain some or all of these poor outcomes. To distinguish between criminogenic and selection explanations for ex‐prisoners’ postrelease experience, I analyze data from a natural experiment in which criminal cases were assigned randomly to judges with sizable sentencing disparities. Using these exogenous sentencing disparities, I produce unbiased estimates of the causal effects of imprisonment on the life course. The results of this analysis suggest that selection effects could be sufficiently large to account for prisoners’ poor postrelease outcomes because judges with large sentencing disparities in their use of imprisonment had similarly high caseload unemployment and criminal recidivism rates.

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  • Incarceration can impact the life-course and the transition to adulthood in many negative ways.

    “Incarceration can impact the life-course and the transition to adulthood in many negative ways (Huebner, 2005; Loeffler, 2013).”

    From Adult Outcomes of Justice Involved Indigenous Youth (2023) · cites this paper as Loeffler, 2013

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Authors
LOEFFLER, C. E.
Affiliations
University of Pennsylvania (US)
Corresponding author
LOEFFLER, CHARLES E.
ORCID
LOEFFLER, CHARLES E.
Venue
Criminology
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2013-01-24
Volume
51
Issue
1
Pages
137-166
ISSN
  • 0011-1384 (ISSN-L)
  • 1745-9125
DOI
10.1111/1745-9125.12000
OpenAlex
W2167969514
Cited by
181
References
92
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 28 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 5
FWCI
32.00
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
Criminology (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis
  • Social Sciences › Law › Criminal Justice and Penology
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Crime Patterns and Interventions
Keywords
incarceration, recidivism, post-release employment, unemployment, selection effects, sentencing disparities, judges, life course, criminogenic effects, stigmatization

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