Use basic economics to explain how an increase in prisons to punish criminals would result in lower crime?

Question

~an increased reliance on prisons

Answer 1

Economist assume that the only reasons people do not commit crimes is because of the possibility of punishment, so they treat the probability and severity of punishment as the price for a criminal acts .From this assumption it follows that an increase in the price reduces the demand (for criminal acts).
Since people often attribute their own motivation to others, this theory makes me wonder about the inherent honesty of economists.

Answer 2

Theoretically, and I don't agree...

If you have enough money to build a lot of prisons, you can make stricter laws, get people on more minor offenses, and keep them there longer, because you have the room to fully prosecute for a whole sentence instead of letting someone go who is less dangerous than the guy walking in to take his place. This in turn, means that Joe Dooky-For-Brains may think twice about doing something wrong because the penalties may be so severe for getting caught, that he would decide it isn't worth it.

Plus when ordinary citizens see their taxes going up to fund these prisons, they get a little less lenient on criminals, want to see their moneys worth and will be more active in supporting anti crime laws, pro-prison laws, neighborhood watch, victim advocacy to prosecute offenders, etc.

Another thing that happens in the community where the prisons are, is that JOBS open up. And when more people have jobs, they are less likely to commit crime.

Again, this is all theoretically speaking because you can't always just throw money at a problem to solve it.

But yes, even practically speaking, when you allocate money to things, you affect the local economy of the citizens there and you stir their emotions with regard to how the money is being spent. So if a person is sick of paying taxes to build bigger prisons, they may decide that it is important to mentor an at-risk youth, or work on literacy or something else that is typically thought to curb crime on the front end.

Answer 3

who said it would? is this a homework assignment? sounds like something out of research . prisons and penal history have shown that it does not lower crime. crime & punishment goes hand-in-hand but one does not automatically deter the other. i don't have an alternative plan but catch & release doesn't work either. you would also have to define crime as there is crime within the prison system. your question is too broad & glib for a real answer.