Harsher Prison Sentences Don't Curb Crime
Harsher Prison Sentences Don't Curb Crime
The region's tough-on-crime policies have failed. It's time for serious penal and judicial reforms that address rehabilitation as well as punishment.
By most statistical measures, Latin America’s mano dura (iron fist) approach to crime has failed. The tough sentencing policies and draconian prison regimes adopted by most countries in recent decades have had almost no evident impact on crime rates. Even as prison populations in the region have skyrocketed, soaring homicide rates have made Latin America the most violent region in the world.1
This has presented policymakers with a dilemma. The tough-on-crime policies are at least in part a response to mounting citizen concerns about public safety, whether in...
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