Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T05:55:52.517Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Organizing for Deterrence: Lessons from a Study of Child Support

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2024

Richard Lempert
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

This study reanalyzes data collected by David Chambers on the enforcement of child support orders in Michigan. It finds that organizational factors interact with sanction factors to determine levels of general deterrence. Where the agency charged with enforcing child support orders, the Friend of the Court, is proactive and jail is a relatively common punishment for those who persist in not paying, overall collection rates are markedly higher than where neither or only one of these factors exist. The study also examines special deterrence and finds a special deterrent effect apparently associated with the experience of being jailed for failing to pay support. In the course of the investigation a number of contingencies important to deterrence theory are identified, and a behavioral response to threat—the avoidance response—is defined.

Type
Research Article
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 16 , Issue 4 , 1982 , pp. 513 - 568
Copyright
Copyright © 1982 The Law and Society Association.

Footnotes

*

In preparing this article, I benefited from the opportunity to discuss it with groups of scholars at the American Bar Foundation, Indiana University Law School, the University of Wisconsin Law School, and the Yale Law School. In these settings and on other occasions I incurred debts to individuals too numerous to mention. However, the help of two people must be acknowledged. Peter Ward was primarily responsible for the statistical work which included both the replication of certain of Chambers' findings and the original analyses reported in this paper. I appreciated not only his speed and skill but also his sophisticated advice as to what statistical approaches were most appropriate. David Chambers' aid was indispensable to everything that follows. He gave me free access to both his raw data and his statistical analyses; he spent hours upon hours explaining the workings of the Friends of the Court Officers and the rationales behind his original coding decisions; and he gave an early draft of this manuscript the most helpful critical assessment it has received. The data analyzed in this paper were collected by Chambers with the aid of several grants, including one from the Law and Social Sciences Program of the National Science Foundation. My own work was supported largely by the Cook Funds of the University of Michigan Law School. The final revision of this paper was written while I was a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, Wolfson College, Oxford.

References

ANDENAES, Johannes (1952) “General Prevention—Illusion or Reality?” 43 Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology & Police Science 176.Google Scholar
ANDENAES, Johannes (1966) “The General Preventive Effects of Punishment,” 114 University of Pennsylvania Law Review 949.Google Scholar
ANDENAES, Johannes (1971) “Deterrence and Specific Offenses,” 38 University of Chicago Law Review 537.Google Scholar
ANDENAES, Johannes (1974) Punishment and Deterrence. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
ANTUNES, George and A. Lee, HUNT (1973a) “The Deterrent Impact of Criminal Sanctions: Some Implications for Criminal Justice Policy,” 51 Journal of Urban Law 145.Google Scholar
ANTUNES, George and A. Lee, HUNT (1973b) “The Impact of Certainty and Severity of Punishment on Levels of Crime in American States: An Extended Analysis,” 64 Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology 486.Google Scholar
AVIO, Kenneth L. and C. Scott, CLARK (1975) Property Crime in Canada: An Econometric Study. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
BAILEY, Walter C. (1966) “Correctional Outcome: An Evaluation of 100 Reports,” 57 Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology & Police Science 153.Google Scholar
BAILEY, Walter C. and Ruth P., LOTT (1976) “Crime, Punishment and Personality: An Examination of the Deterrence Question,” 67 Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology 99.Google Scholar
BAILEY, Walter C., MARTIN, J. David, and Louis N., GRAY (1974) “Crime and Deterrence: A Correlation Analysis,” 11 Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 124.Google Scholar
BALL, John C. (1955) “The Deterrence Concept in Criminology and Law,” 46 Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology & Police Science 347.Google Scholar
BANDURA, Albert (1969) Principles of Behavior Modification. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.Google Scholar
BANKSTON, William B. and James A., CRAMER (1974) “Toward a Macro-Sociological Interpretation of General Deterrence,” 12 Criminology 251.Google Scholar
BARNES, Harry E. and Negley K., TEETERS (1951) New Horizons in Criminology. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
BECCARIA, Cesare B. (1963) An Essay on Crimes and Punishments. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill.Google Scholar
BENTHAM, Jeremy (1962) The Works of Jeremy Bentham, Bowring ed. (Vol. I). New York: Russell and Russell.Google Scholar
BLACK, Donald J. (1973) “The Mobilization of Law,” 2 Journal of Legal Studies 125.Google Scholar
BLAU, Peter M. (1960) “Structural Effects,” 25 American Sociological Review 178.Google Scholar
BOWERS, William J. and Richard G., SALEM (1972) “Severity of Formal Sanctions as a Repressive Response to Deviant Behavior,” 6 Law & Society Review 427.Google Scholar
BROWN, Don W. (1978) “Arrest Rates and Crime Rates: When Does a Tipping Effect Occur?” 57 Social Forces 671.Google Scholar
BROWN, Don W. and McDOUGAL, Stephen L. (1977) “Noncompliance with Law: A Utility Analysis of Crime Rates,” 58 Social Science Quarterly 195.Google Scholar
CALDWELL, Robert C. (1944) “The Deterrent Influence of Corporal Punishment Upon Prisoners Who Have Been Whipped,” 9 American Sociological Review 171.Google Scholar
CALIFORNIA ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON CRIMINAL PROCEDURE (1968) Deterrent Effects of Criminal Sanctions. Sacramento: Assembly of the State of California.Google Scholar
CAMERON, Mary Owen (1964) The Booster and the Snitch: Department Store Shoplifting. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
CARNEY, Francis J. (1967) “Predicting Recidivism in a Medium Security Correctional Institution,” 58 Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology & Police Science 338.Google Scholar
CARR-HILL, R.A. and N.H., STERN (1973) “An Econometric Model of the Supply and Control of Recorded Offences in England and Wales,” 2 Journal of Public Economics 289.Google Scholar
CHAMBERS, David (1977) “Men Who Know They are Watched: Some Benefits and Costs of Jailing for Nonpayment of Support,” 75 Michigan Law Review 900.Google Scholar
CHAMBERS, David (1979) Making Fathers Pay: The Enforcement of Child Support. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
CHAMBLISS, William J. (1967) “Types of Deviance and the Effectiveness of Legal Sanctions,” 1967 Wisconsin Law Review 703.Google Scholar
CHAUNCEY, Robert (1975) “Deterrence: Certainty, Severity, and Skyjacking,” 12 Criminology 447.Google Scholar
CHIRICOS, Theodore G. and Gordon P., WALDO (1970) “Punishment and Crime: An Examination of Some Empirical Evidence,” 18 Social Problems 200.Google Scholar
CLARKE, R.G.V. (1966) “Approved School Boy Absconders and Corporal Punishment,” 6 British Journal of Criminology 364.Google Scholar
CLASTER, Daniel S. (1967) “Comparison of Risk Perception Between Delinquents and Nondelinquents,” 58 Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology & Police Science 80.Google Scholar
COOK, Philip J. (1980) “Research in Criminal Deterrence: Laying the Groundwork for the Second Decade,” in Morris, N. and Tonry, M. (eds.), Crime and Justice: An Annual Review of Research. (Vol. 2). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
COUSINEAU, Douglas F. (1973) “A Critique of the Ecological Approach to the Study of Deterrence,” 54 Social Science Quarterly 152.Google Scholar
CRESSEY, Donald R. (1953) Other Peoples' Money: A Study in the Social Psychology of Embezzlement. Glencoe: The Free Press.Google Scholar
DURKHEIM, Emile (1933) The Division of Labor in Society. Glencoe: The Free Press.Google Scholar
ECKHARDT, Kenneth W. (1965) “Social Change, Legal Controls, and Child Support: A Study in the Sociology of Law,” (Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Wisconsin).Google Scholar
ERICKSON, Maynard L. and Jack P., GIBBS (1978) “Objective and Perceptual Properties of Legal Punishment and the Deterrence Doctrine,” 25 Social Problems 253.Google Scholar
ERICKSON, Maynard L., GIBBS, Jack P., and Gary F., JENSEN (1977) “The Deterrence Doctrine and the Perceived Certainty of Legal Punishments,” 42 American Sociological Review 305.Google Scholar
ERICKSON, Patricia G. (1976) “Deterrence and Deviance: The Example of Cannabis Prohibition,” 67 Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology 222.Google Scholar
ERIKSON, Kai T. (1966) Wayward Puritans; A Study in the Sociology of Deviance. New York: John Wiley and Sons.Google Scholar
GEERKEN, Michael R. and Walter R., GOVE (1975) “Deterrence: Some Theoretical Considerations,” 9 Law & Society Review 497.Google Scholar
GEERKEN, Michael R. and Walter R., GOVE (1977) “Deterrence, Overload, and Incapacitation: An Empirical Evaluation,” 56 Social Forces 424.Google Scholar
GIBBS, Jack P. (1968) “Crime, Punishment and Deterrence,” 48 Southwestern Social Science Quarterly 515.Google Scholar
GIBBS, Jack P. (1975) Crime, Punishment and Deterrence. New York: Elsevier.Google Scholar
GIBSON, Frank K., PRATHER, James E. and George A., TAYLOR (1973) “A Path Analytic Treatment of Corrections Outputs,” 54 Social Science Quarterly 281.Google Scholar
GLASER, Daniel (1969) The Effectiveness of a Prison and Parole System. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill.Google Scholar
GOLD, Martin (1970) Delinquent Behavior in an American City. Belmont, CA.: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company.Google Scholar
GRASMICK, Harold G. and Herman, MILLIGAN Jr. (1976) “Deterrence Theory Approach to Socioeconomic/Demographic Correlates of Crime,” 57 Social Science Quarterly 608.Google Scholar
GREENBERG, David F. (1975) “The Incapacitative Effect of Imprisonment: Some Estimates,” 9 Law & Society Review 541.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
GREENBERG, David F. (1977) “The Correctional Effects of Corrections: A Survey of Evaluations,” in Greenberg, D. (ed.), Corrections and Punishment. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
GREENBERG, David F., KESSLER, Ronald C., and Charles H., LOGAN (1979) “A Panel Model of Crime Rates and Arrest Rates,” 44 American Sociological Review 843.Google Scholar
JACOB, Herbert and Michael, RICH (1980-81) “The Effects of the Police on Crime: A Second Look,” 15 Law & Society Review 109.Google Scholar
KASSEBAUM, Gene, David, WARD, and Daniel, WILNER (1971) Prison Treatment and Parole Survival: An Empirical Assessment. New York: John Wiley and Sons.Google Scholar
KELLING, George L., PATE, Tony, DIECKMAN, Duane, and Charles E., BROWN (1974) The Kansas City Preventive Patrol Experiment: A Summary Report. Washington, D.C.: The Police Foundation.Google Scholar
KRAUT, Robert E. (1976) “Deterrent and Definitional Influences on Shoplifting,” 23 Social Problems 358.Google Scholar
LEMPERT, Richard (1976) “Mobilizing Private Law: An Introductory Essay,” 11 Law & Society Review 173.Google Scholar
LEMPERT, Richard (1977) “Trial-type Ceremonies and Defendant Behavior,” 1 Law and Human Behavior 343.Google Scholar
LEVIN, Martin A. (1971) “Policy Evaluation and Recidivism,” 6 Law & Society Review 17.Google Scholar
LIPTON, Douglas, Robert, MARTINSON, and Judith, WILKS (1975) The Effectiveness of Correctional Treatment: A Survey of Treatment Evaluation Studies. New York: Praeger.Google Scholar
LOVALD, Keith and Holger R., STUB (1968) “The Revolving Door: Reactions of Chronic Drunkenness Offenders to Court Sanctions,” 59 Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology & Police Science 525.Google Scholar
MARTINSON, Robert (1974) “What Works? - Questions and Answers About Prison Reform,” 35 The Public Interest 22.Google Scholar
MATZA, David (1964) Delinquency and Drift. New York: John Wiley and Sons.Google Scholar
MEIER, Robert F. and Weldon T., JOHNSON (1977) “Deterrence as Social Control: The Legal and Extralegal Production of Conformity,” 42 American Sociological Review 292.Google Scholar
METZNER, Ralph and Gunther, WEIL (1963) “Predicting Recidivism: Base-Rates for Massachusetts Correctional Institution Concord,” 54 Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology & Police Science 307.Google Scholar
MURRAY, Charles A. and Louis A., COX Jr. (1979) Beyond Probation. Beverly Hills: Sage.Google Scholar
PALMER, Jan (1977) “Economic Analyses of the Deterrent Effect of Punishment: A Review,” 14 Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 4.Google Scholar
PALMER, Ted (1975) “Martinson Revisited,” 12 Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 133.Google Scholar
ROBISON, James and Gerald, SMITH (1971) “The Effectiveness of Correctional Programs,” 17 Crime and Delinquency 67.Google Scholar
ROSS, H. Laurence (1973) “Law, Science, and Accidents: The British Road Safety Act of 1967,” 2 Journal of Legal Studies 1.Google Scholar
ROSS, H. Laurence (1977) “Deterrence Regained: The Cheshire Constabulary's ‘Breathaliser Blitz,‘” 6 Journal of Legal Studies 241.Google Scholar
SCHWARTZ, Richard D. and Jerome H., SKOLNICK (1962) “Two Studies of Legal Stigma,” 10 Social Problems 133.Google Scholar
SHINNAR, Reul and Shlomo, SHINNAR (1975) “The Effects of the Criminal Justice System on the Control of Crime; A Quantitative Approach,” 9 Law & Society Review 581.Google Scholar
SHOHAM, S. Giora (1974) “Punishment and Traffic Offenses,” 28 Traffic Quarterly 61.Google Scholar
SILBERMAN, Matthew (1976) “Toward a Theory of Criminal Deterrence,” 41 American Sociological Review 442.Google Scholar
STOVER, Robert V. and Don W., BROWN (1975) “Understanding Compliance and Noncompliance with Law: The Contributions of Utility Theory,” 56 Social Science Quarterly 363.Google Scholar
TITTLE, Charles R. (1969) “Crime Rates and Legal Sanctions,” 16 Social Problems 409.Google Scholar
TITTLE, Charles R. (1977a) “Introduction,” 56 Social Forces 315.Google Scholar
TITTLE, Charles R. (1977b) “Sanction Fear and the Maintenance of Social Order,” 55 Social Forces 579.Google Scholar
TITTLE, Charles R. and Charles H., LOGAN (1973) “Sanctions and Deviance: Evidence and Remaining Questions,” 7 Law & Society Review 371.Google Scholar
TITTLE, Charles R. and Alan R., ROWE (1974) “Certainty of Arrest and Crime Rates: A Further Test of the Deterrence Hypothesis,” 52 Social Forces 455.Google Scholar
WALKER, Nigel (1965) Crime and Punishment in Britain; An Analysis of the Penal System in Theory, Law, and Practice. Edinburgh: University Press.Google Scholar
WALKER, Nigel and Michael, ARGYLE (1964) “Does the Law Affect Moral Judgments?” 4 British Journal of Criminology 570.Google Scholar
WILSON, James Q. and Barbara, BOLAND (1978) “The Effect of the Police on Crime,” 12 Law & Society Review 367.Google Scholar
WOLFGANG, Marvin E., FIGLIO, Robert M., and Thorsten, SELLIN (1972) Delinquency in a Birth Cohort. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
ZIMRING, Franklin E. and Gordon J., HAWKINS (1968) “Deterrence and Marginal Groups,” 5 Journal of Research on Crime and Delinquency 100.Google Scholar
ZIMRING, Franklin E. and Gordon J., HAWKINS (1973) Deterrence; The Legal Threat in Crime Control. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar