Economic rationalist theory seems to have pervaded almost all aspects of our culture except the sentencing of convicted criminals it seems. New research in the UK indicates that tougher sentencing of young offenders achieves exactly the opposite of what economic rationalism expects of a system, it costs more and has a lower success rate than alternative methods of punishment.

Reoffending rates for young offender institutions are as high as 84%, with a six month custodial sentence costing the taxpayer an average of £21,000.

"By comparison, alternative non-custodial options for a similar six month period cost as little as £6,000 and have markedly lower rates of reoffending."

So, it costs 4 times as much to imprison a youth and, in doing so, instead of fixing the problem, you increase the chance of them reoffending by 25%. Sounds like your classic "lose-lose" situation. Perhaps it is time to put aside our primitive need for vengence and look to alternatives from which everyone benefits.

Read the report here.