Professors Daniel S. Nagin and Joan Petersilia awarded the 2014 Stockholm Prize in Criminology

The 2014 Stockholm Prize in Criminology goes to Daniel S. Nagin, Professor of Public Administration and Statistics at Carnegie Mellon University, USA, and Joan Petersilia, Professor of Law at Stanford University, USA.

According to the jury's motivation, Nagin and Petersilia's work has contributed to a change in the way prisons and probation are used, based on evidence of what works - and what doesn't. 

Petersilia's research on repeat offenders has helped the US to multiply its efforts to support ex-prisoners during the high-risk period that occurs immediately after they are released from prison, often with no home or job to go to.

Nagin's evidence of the negative impact that prisons can have on prisoners has helped reduce the number of people in prison for the for the first time in four decades in the United States, which has the prison population in the world. He has presented the rationale and incentives for investment in policing instead of prisons.

The prize will be awarded at a ceremony in the City Hall Stockholm Criminology Symposium 2014, organized by the Swedish Crime Prevention Council.

About the prize
The Stockholm Prize in Criminology is an international prize established with the support of the Ministry of Justice and the Torsten Söderberg Foundation. It is awarded annually with a prize sum of SEK 1 million in connection with the Stockholm Criminology Symposium organized by the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention.

The prize is awarded for outstanding achievements in criminological research or for the practical application of research results relating to crime control and the promotion of human rights.

The aim of the Prize is to promote:
- a better understanding of the causes of crime at individual and structural levels
- more effective and humane public policies in the treatment of offenders
- a better understanding of alternative crime prevention measures, both in the justice system and in civil society
- victim assistance practices
- improved methods to reduce abuse of authority in the justice system on a global scale.

The prize was awarded for the first time in the City Hall in June 2006 with the Jerry Lee Foundation as the original contributor.

Stockholm Prize in Criminology, SU