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Criminal Sanction and Deterrence

Encyclopedia of Law and Economics

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Abstract

This entry defines criminal sanctions by distinguishing them from civil sanctions, and briefly surveys the major categories of criminal sanctions, both ancient and new. The entry then outlines the primary social justifications for using such sanctions—focusing on deterrence as a distinct purpose of punishment—and describes a basic model of criminal offending to highlight the conditions under which the threat of criminal sanctions can influence offender behavior in predictable ways. Next explored are the implications for deterrence of the different types of criminal sanctions. A brief discussion of the suggestive conclusions emerging from related empirical evidence follows.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Law School, University of Michigan, 701 South State Street, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    J. J. Prescott

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  1. J. J. Prescott
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Correspondence to J. J. Prescott .

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  1. Lehrst. Finanzwissenschaft/ Finanzsoziologie, University of Erfurt, Erfurt, ThĂĽringen, Germany

    JĂĽrgen Backhaus

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Prescott, J.J. (2015). Criminal Sanction and Deterrence. In: Backhaus, J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Law and Economics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_19-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_19-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-7883-6

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Criminal Sanctions and Deterrence
    Published:
    12 December 2016

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_19-3

  2. Criminal Sanction and Deterrence
    Published:
    02 March 2016

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_19-2

  3. Original

    Criminal Sanction and Deterrence
    Published:
    05 February 2015

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_19-1

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