Question

According to the text, what would happen if police were to increase the current number of youths referred to the system by two to three times?

A) Crime would ultimately be reduced.
B) The cost of justice would likely be reduced.
C) The system would be unmanageable.
D) Crime would likely remain constant.

Answer 1

Increasing the number of youths referred to the justice system by two to three times would likely make the system unmanageable, as per the text's discussion on crime prevention and the cost-benefit framework.

Step-by-step explanation:

If police were to increase the current number of youths referred to the system by two to three times, the text implies that the system would become unmanageable. This conclusion can be inferred from the various discussions on deterrence and the cost-benefit analysis framework presented in the text. Emphasizing the importance of crime prevention, the text supports approaches that raise the costs of crime, such as deterrence and increasing the opportunity costs of crime, but also recognizes that the marginal costs of crime prevention increase as the number of crimes decreases. Thus, referring more youths to an already strained system could potentially overburden the system rather than effectively deter crime.