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Tough on Young Offenders: Harmful or Helpful?

Author

Listed:
  • 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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    File URL: http://jhr.uwpress.org/cgi/reprint/57/4/1276
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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. Antonella Mancino, M., 2025. "Rehabilitating futures: Assessing the effects of correctional employment-focused programs on recidivism and employment," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    3. William Arbour & Guy Lacroix & Steeve Marchand, 2021. "Prison Rehabilitation Programs: Efficiency and Targeting," Working Papers tecipa-684, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.
    4. Marcella Alsan & Arkey Barnett & Peter Hull & Crystal S Yang, 2025. "“Something Works” in U.S. Jails: Misconduct and Recidivism Effects of the IGNITE Program," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 140(2), pages 1367-1415.

    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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