Mainstreaming Methodology for Estimating Costs of Crime
The development of sentencing guidelines in countries such as England & Wales and the US has raised in stark terms the issue of finding a consistent basis for sentencing by courts and judges. Sentencers have a variety of considerations in mind when they pass judgment, including the scale of harm to the victim, the prospect of deterring the offender from re-offending, the offender’s past record and the protection of the public. A good understanding of cost of crime methodology can help inform these judgments, since it helps express many of the relevant losses in financial (and thus commensurable) terms.
Although there has been a wealth of criminological studies of the reconviction rates associated with the various types of disposals there has been comparatively little done on the relative costs and benefits of the alternatives. One study that seeks to redress the balance is the Matrix Knowledge report.
