The list of controls in the “prison reduces lifespan” study seems a little on the short side—race, age, gender, education, and the crime. It’s fine if that’s all that was available, but if you had some other data as well, I would expect to see the life span reduction reduced as well. Particularly if the major causes of death are homicide and drug overdose right after getting, a strong linear relationship between time spent in prison and life expectancy seems weird. I’m not sure how that would work, causally.
But mostly I agree with chron—you can’t just completely ignore the possibility that the existence of prisons reduces crime.
The list of controls in the “prison reduces lifespan” study seems a little on the short side—race, age, gender, education, and the crime. It’s fine if that’s all that was available, but if you had some other data as well, I would expect to see the life span reduction reduced as well. Particularly if the major causes of death are homicide and drug overdose right after getting, a strong linear relationship between time spent in prison and life expectancy seems weird. I’m not sure how that would work, causally.
But mostly I agree with chron—you can’t just completely ignore the possibility that the existence of prisons reduces crime.