ABSTRACT
This chapter applies Ostrom's findings and framework to contemporary problems in criminal justice. It discusses avenues for future research applying Elinor Ostrom's work to problems of criminal justice and coproduction. Ostrom's research on coproduction can help illuminate the contemporary phenomenon of mass incarceration. Coproduction offers an analytical lens for exploring possible criminogenic consequences of mass incarceration. While incarceration is intended to reduce crime, some scholars have highlighted how incarceration can have unintended consequences that promote crime. Community policing programs are designed to enable citizen coproduction, and the coproduction literature can be interpreted as an argument for community policing. But community policing programs have often failed to improve relationships and trust between police and the community. To truly understand the relationship between coproduction and mass incarceration, the Bloomington School's research methods can be effectively applied to the problem. Research on coproduction might also draw on existing literature on how government spending crowds out private spending on social projects.
