Citation

Wermink H, Ramakers A, Nieuwbeerta P, Keijser J, Dirkzwager A. Tijdschr. Criminol. 2017; 59(1-2).

Vernacular Title

Onderzoeksnotitie: Recidive na een korte of langere periode in detentie

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Boom juridisch)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between imprisonment and recidivism. The data comes from a unique longitudinal and nationwide study of Dutch male prisoners, serving an average of 4.1 months of confinement (N = 1.467). Ideally an experimental design would be the influence of different sentence lengths on recidivism. In order to approximate such a design using observational data, we adopt a propensity score methodology for controlling bias in the dose-response relationship. Using a six-month follow-up, we do not find significant differences in post-release recidivism between men who spent shorter or longer periods of time in confinement. We discuss the pros and cons of the methodology as well as potential implications of the findings.

Keywords imprisonment, dose-response relationship, recidivism, propensity score methodology

Language: nl