Deterrence has long been a cornerstone of crime prevention strategies, but how effective is it in practice? Can stricter penalties truly prevent crime? What other approaches might work better?
Deterrence has long been a cornerstone of crime prevention strategies, but how effective is it in practice? Can stricter penalties truly prevent crime? What other approaches might work better?
It’s not that simple. Deterrence can be useful to minimize certain types of crime being normalized. But it’s not going to stop someone who thinks they’re going to be arrested no matter what they do, nor the person who truly believes they’ll never get caught, nor the person who commits the crime out of ignorance, nor crimes committed in the moment without considering the consequences.