Efforts to stop prisoners reoffending can be useless or even backfire

Efforts to prevent prisoners from reoffending are often lacking in scientific rigour and can even fly in the face of available evidence

By Clare Wilson

Marjorie Kamys Cotera/Bob Daemmrich Photography/Alamy

UK POLITICIANS are considering new measures to combat domestic violence. Many elements of the government’s proposed Domestic Abuse Bill have been welcomed by campaigners, but it also includes a plan for those convicted of such offences to be regularly monitored after release with lie detector tests.

Lie detectors, also known as polygraph machines, measure changes in people’s pulse, sweating rate and other indicators, but they are notoriously inaccurate so it isn’t clear they can prevent reoffending.

The issue goes to the heart of a broader …