Den uformelle straf og velfærdsstaten

Informal punishment consists of the difference between a criminal’s life circumstances after conviction and punishment, and that which he or she would have experienced without conviction and punishment. Despite a long debate, it remains unclear whether a well-developed welfare state with a high level of social security prevents or promotes crime among ex-convicts via its influence on informal economic punishment. The current article has two purposes: First, to examine whether, and by what means, social security support - in this case, as provided in Denmark - has any measurable impact on the informal punishment experienced by ex-convicts; and, second, to quantify informal economic punishment as experienced with and without this social security support, i.e., inclusion of unemployment insurance benefits and other welfare payments. Internationally, there have been few attempts to quantify informal economic punishment, and the author knows of no previous research concerning the significance of a country’s welfare system for the informal punishment experienced by its lawbreakers.