Crime and Incarceration: Some Comparative Findings from the 1980s

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Abstract
Incarceration, crime, and unemployment rates from Texas, California, and the United States during the 1970s and 1980s are examined to explore the link between incarceration policies and crime rates. Comparing Texas and California, despite different incarceration policies in the 1980s, there are few differences in violent crime rate trends. By contrast, in the late 1980s, property crimes increased in Texas and decreased in California. These state-rate differences across types of crime parallel findings across four successive parolee cohorts in Texas, where increases in repetitious property offending patterns were noted, and repetitious violent offending remained stable. Variations in incarceration rates and economic conditions are noted as explanatory factors.