The Effect of Penal Legitimacy on Prisoners’ Postrelease Desistance

Abstract

Studies of procedural justice and legitimacy have shown that where legal actors use formal rules in ways that are perceived to be fair and consistent by those policed, greater compliance with the law can be achieved. A number of studies have assessed how legitimacy and compliance are related using general population samples, but few have tested these links among offending groups. Drawing on data from a longitudinal survey of prisoners across England and Wales, we find that prisoners who perceive their experience of prison as legitimate are more likely to believe that they will desist from crime. However, despite the existence of desistance beliefs, these do not translate into similar effects of legitimacy on proven reconviction rates a year post release.