Kriminalitätsbekämpfung

The strategy to combat crime applied in Switzerland and in a large number of other European countries differs greatly from that of the USA. American 'severity', consisting of a massive police contingent, a zero-tolerance policy, long prison sentences, the stigmatization of offenders due in part to the media etc, is in contrast to Swiss 'leniency', for example fines instead of imprisonment, limiting the number of persons allowed to see the register of previous convictions etc. In this work, the author focuses on the economic assessment of these two different ways of combating crime. In giving a theoretical characterization of the most effective policies in combating crime, she goes beyond modern literature on economics by dealing not only with the most effective punishment by the state but also the way in which the state can control non-governmental or informal punishment, an example of which is spreading information about the offense.