From the National Institute of Justice:
Research shows that imprisonment has few, if any, beneficial effects on criminal activity, except for the period when individuals are in a correctional facility. It also shows that imprisonment has disruptive effects on the life-course of individuals, leading to worse labor market outcomes, more disrupted family lives, and worse health. As a result, it seems reasonable to assume that incarceration impedes the desistance process — or, at the very least, does not facilitate desistance directly or indirectly.
Unfortunately, virtually none of the existing research considers how imprisonment affects the desistance process for individuals who chronically engage in criminal activity. This is an important oversight, because this is the group of individuals for whom desistance from crime is most important — both for society (because they commit a large number of crimes) and for themselves (because their criminal activity often dovetails with other antisocial behaviors that impede their well-being). The research also rarely measures shifts in criminal activity, focusing instead on criminal justice contact, and provides little insight into how conditions of confinement moderate the effects of incarceration on desistance. In addition, much of the strongest research on desistance relies on data that are not current, making its connections to contemporary society unclear.
This white paper considers how imprisonment shapes the desistance process for individuals who chronically engage in criminal activity and discusses the implications for policy, practice, and research. Assuming these individuals respond to imprisonment as do other populations involved in the justice system, research suggests that long imprisonments will disrupt desistance more than short imprisonments and that short prison and jail incarcerations will disrupt desistance more than noncustodial sanctions (e.g., house arrest, probation, community service).
Download the full chapter here.
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