Benefit-cost analyses of sentencing

Abstract

Sentencing policies are most frequently designed by policy-makers and implemented by the courts with the aim of punishing, deterring and rehabilitating offenders in order to reduce future re-offending. However many sentencing decisions are made without knowledge of the effectiveness of sentences in achieving their objectives, or the costs and benefits of the different sentencing alternatives. The following systematic review was conducted in order to address these questions and to review the existing evidence on the costs and benefits of different sentencing options. Results from costeffectiveness studies were retained to provide supporting information. The objective of the review was to identify and assess the quality of studies of the costs and benefits of different sentencing options.