Comprehensive Deterrence Theory: The Science and Policy of Punishment

First articulated more than 250 years ago, deterrence remains a central theory in criminology and continues to be the bedrock of the vast bulk of criminal justice policy. But few updates to the original theory of deterrence have been made, and crime-based punishment has only grown tougher, resulting in a historically unprecedented growth in imprisonment and an even greater reliance on deterrence to justify all kinds of punishment. These changes have occurred despite consistent or strong evidence to show that such punishments actually deter crime. In this book, renowned criminologists Daniel P. Mears and Mark C. Stafford provide an in-depth understanding of the classical account of deterrence theory, its limitations, and a reconceptualized version that establishes a more complete and powerful picture of how legal punishments can deter crime. Thorough and corrective, Comprehensive Deterrence Theory gives readers a new way of thinking about and understanding legal punishment.

Daniel P. Mears is Distinguished Research Professor at Florida State University. A Fellow of the American Society of Criminology, he has published widely on crime and justice. Previously, he served as a Senior Research Associate at the Urban Institute, Peace Corps Volunteer, and program counselor working with adolescents.

Mark C. Stafford is a Professor at Texas State University's School of Criminal Justice and Criminology. He has been a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University and published extensively on deterrence and rational-choice behavior. He is a co-author of American Delinquency (1999) and Sex Crimes and Sex Offenders (2017).