Long-Term Imprisonment |
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The main question this project answers is: What makes prisoners successful in remaining crime-free after their release from long-term imprisonment? Today, one out of every ten prisoners is serving a long-term sentence. In recent years, the number of long-term sentences is dramatically rising. Prisoners are serving increasingly longer terms of incarceration. This growth is linked to policy changes, not to increases in crime rates. In recent years there has been a significant shift both in public discussion and policy attention to the goal of imprisonment, public safety, the fiscal costs and implications of imprisonment for victims and offenders. This conversation needs to be expanded to the application of life sentences. The Lifers beyond Bars project is conducted in close partnership with the Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
Against the backdrop of tough-on-crime policies, this project takes a close look at the lives of men and women sentenced to long-term sentences, the events that lead to their incarceration, and the struggles they faced upon release. The goal of this project is to ensuring that policy and practice of treating violent offenders are closely tied to state-of-the art research. 
This research was largely funded by the Marie Curie Fellowship under grant number 299875.
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Selected Publications:
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