Date of Award
2018
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Criminal Justice
Abstract
This study explored the effect of time spent incarcerated on recidivism among a sample of individuals released from IDOC facilities from 2011 to 2014 (N = 72,716). Gang members were compared to non-gang members in order to evaluate the potentially heterogeneous nature of the effect of length of stay on recidivism within the competing frameworks of deterrence theory and social learning theory. The samples were further split into separate analyses based on the current felony class, and length of stay was operationalized as incarceration in months and split into quartiles based on the distribution of each felony class sample. The results indicate that the effect of length of incarceration on recidivism is dependent not only on gang affiliation but also on felony class. Ultimately, these findings indicate that the effect of length of incarceration on recidivism is too heterogeneous to draw any universal conclusions that can reliably inform sentencing policy.
Recommended Citation
Otto, Henry Douglas, "It's About Time: Length of Incarceration, Gang Membership, and Recidivism among Illinois Prison Releasees" (2018). Master's Theses. 4006.
https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses/4006
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2018 Henry Douglas Otto
