Theses and Dissertations

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Wood, Peter

Committee Member

Dunaway, Greg

Committee Member

Blanchard, Troy

Date of Degree

5-5-2007

Document Type

Graduate Thesis - Open Access

Major

Sociology

Degree Name

Master of Science

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work

Abstract

Previous research has examined certainty and severity of punishment as serving a deterrent function. This research examines the effects of economic, cultural, and social capital, as well as the effects of certainty, severity, and prior punishment on likelihood of re-offending. Data collected at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility suggest that traditional deterrence indicators are insufficient for predicting likelihood of re-offending. This research finds that prior punishment increases likelihood of re-offending, a finding completely counter to that of traditional deterrence. Re-offending may be best understood by considering the effects of punishment on increasing prison capital and decreasing real world capital. The argument is that inmates consider their potential in the real world as compared to that in a prison when reporting likelihood of re-offending. Such considerations should better explain likelihood of re-offending as compared to traditional deterrence indicators, such as certainty, severity, and prior punishment.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11668/16381

Download

Share

COinS