Understanding whether, and in what situations, time spent in prison is criminogenic or preventive has proven challenging due to data availability and correlated unobservables. This paper overcomes these challenges in the context of Norway's criminal justice system, offering new insights into how...

Does prison cause mental health problems among inmates and their family members? Correlational evidence reveals that the prevalence of mental health problems is much higher among inmates than among the general population, but remains silent on the issue of causality. We exploit the strengths of...

Does prison cause mental health problems among inmates and their family members? Correlational studies tend to find much higher prevalence of mental health problems among inmates than in the general population, but remain silent on the issue of causality. We combine detailed Norwegian data on...