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Tough on Young Offenders: Harmful or Helpful?

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  • Giulia Lotti

Abstract

How harshly should society punish young lawbreakers? Through a fuzzy regression discontinuity design, I compare harsh and rehabilitative criminal incarceration practices. Young offenders sent to the more rehabilitative youth facilities become less likely to reoffend. On the contrary, offenders at the margin of the age cutoff and exposed to the harsher youth facilities are 27 percent more likely to recidivate in the eight years subsequent to their custody, and they are more likely to commit violent offenses, thefts, and criminal damages. Keeping young offenders separate from their older peers in prison seems effective, but only in institutions not solely focused on punishment.

Suggested Citation

  • Giulia Lotti, 2022. "Tough on Young Offenders: Harmful or Helpful?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 57(4), pages 1276-1310.
    • Handle: RePEc:uwp:jhriss:v:57:y:2022:i:4:p:1276-1310
    Note: DOI: 10.3368/jhr.57.4.1017-9113R3
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    Cited by:

    1. Steeve Marchand & Guy Lacroix & William Arbour, 2023. "Prison rehabilitation programs and recidivism: evidence from variations in availability," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2023n07, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    2. William Arbour & Guy Lacroix & Steeve Marchand, 2021. "Prison Rehabilitation Programs: Efficiency and Targeting," Working Papers tecipa-684, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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