Game Theory and its Application to Penology

Michelle  L.  Blakely; Curtis R.  Blakely

doi:10.5958/2347-6869.2018.00015.8

Game Theory and its Application to Penology

Authors

Dr Michelle Blakely Assistant Professor of Social and Administrative Pharmacy, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9946-5187
Dr Curtis R. Blakely Associate Professor of Justice Systems Truman State University, Kirksville, Missouri, USA http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0964-8327

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5958/2347-6869.2018.00015.8

Keywords:

Game Theory, Penology, Rehabilitation, Prisoner’s Dilemma, Early Release, Win, Sentencing, Good-time Credits

Abstract

Game theory is the study of the interactions that occur between rational decision-makers and the dynamics that influence strategic behaviors. Paramount to this approach is the realization that an individual’s decisions are often influenced by the actions and/or anticipated actions of others. Of particular importance is Game Theory’s capacity to explain the prison’s disinterest and seeming inability to successfully promote offender rehabilitation. Herein the relationship existing between prisons and prisoners is viewed as a “game” designed to prevent an inmate “win”. As such, contemporary prisoners have (in protest) chosen to oppose all forms of correctional intervention even when doing so is personally detrimental.

DOI: 10.5958/2347-6869.2018.00015.8

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

Author Biographies

Dr Michelle Blakely, Assistant Professor of Social and Administrative Pharmacy, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA

Dr. Blakely holds a Ph.D. in Social and Behavioral Sciences and a M.Ed. in Counseling from Auburn University. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with Psychology Departmental Honors from the University of South Alabama. Dr. Blakely is a National Certified Counselor (NCC) and a Motivational Interviewing (MI) expert. She has extensive experience teaching MI to a variety of health care professionals including physicians, pharmacists, nurse practitioners, case managers, and counselors. Dr. Blakely is also an active scholar, having authored numerous peer-reviewed journal articles and an interdisciplinary book that combines the natural and social sciences to increase our understanding of human behavior.

Dr. Blakely was faculty at the University of Connecticut (UConn) in the Department of Pharmacy Practice, and Director of Disability Services at Truman State University before coming to the University of Wyoming. Her fields of specialization are social and behavioral sciences, communications, and patient health outcomes.

Dr. Blakely has delivered lectures at Yale-New Haven Hospital (Yale University), the Lincoln Medical Center (NYC), and Virginia Commonwealth University. She has delivered presentations to audiences at the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Annual Meetings and Seminars and the American Pharmacists Association Annual Conferences. During her doctoral studies, Dr. Blakely received the WalMart/AACP Annual Conference Scholarship to encourage her commitment to higher education and healthcare disciplines. Since that time, she has served as an annual reviewer for this prestigious award. Dr. Blakely is also a former American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education (AFPE) Fellow and a lifetime member of Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society.

Dr Curtis R. Blakely, Associate Professor of Justice Systems Truman State University, Kirksville, Missouri, USA

Managing Editor - International Journal of Criminal Justice Sciences

Curtis R. Blakely, associate professor, holds bachelor’s and a master’s degrees from the University of Nebraska, a specialist degree from the University of Central Missouri and a doctorate from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Curtis has served as a probation/parole officer for the State of Missouri, as a classification specialist for the New Mexico Department of Corrections, and as a police training specialist for the Union Pacific Railroad Police Department and for Eastern Kentucky University's Regional Community Policing Institute/Department of Criminal Justice Training (DOCJT).

References

Collier, L. (2014). Incarceration nation. American Psychological Association, Monitor on Psychology (vol. 45, no. 9).

Henn, R., & Moeschlin, O. (eds.) (1977). Mathematical economics and game theory: Essays in honor of Oskar Morgenstern. New York, NY: Springer-Verlag.

Kuhn, H., & Tucker, A. (1958). Jon von Neumann’s work in the theory of games and mathematical economics. Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society (64 part 2 (3): 100-122).

Mazalov, V. (2014). Mathematical game theory and applications. West Sussex, England: John Wiley and Sons Publishing.

Newton, J. (2018). Evolutionary game theory: A renaissance. Games (vol. 9, iss. 2).

Poundstone, W. (1993). Prisoner’s dilemma. New York, NY: Anchor Books.

Prisner, E. (2014). Game theory through examples. Washington, DC: Mathematical Association of America.

Wagner, P., & Sawyer, W. (2018). States of incarceration: The Global Context 2018. www.prisonpolicy.org (accessed 10/23/18).

Ye Hee Lee, M. (2015). Yes, U.S. locks people up at a higher rate than any other country. Washington Post (July 7).

Cover of Game Theory and its Application to Penology

Downloads

Requires Subscription PDF

Published

28-04-2019

How to Cite

Blakely, M. . L. ., & Blakely, C. R. . (2019). Game Theory and its Application to Penology. SOCRATES, 6(3 and 4), 54–62. https://doi.org/10.5958/2347-6869.2018.00015.8

Download Citation

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 3 and 4 (2018): Issue : September and December

Section

Political Science

License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Revised Copyright/CC license that applies to all the articles published after 05-02-2017

Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Author(s) will retain all the copyright of their published article. In the case of re-publishing, they will have to obtain written permission from the journal. Additional licensing agreements (Creative Commons licenses) grants rights to readers to Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material.The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.

Under the following terms:

▸ Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.▸ NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.▸ No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.

Nothing in this license impairs or restricts the authors’ rights. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA. Research Papers published in SOCRATES after 05-02-2017 are licensed under an Attribution -Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Date of revision: Creative common license: 05-02-2017

Copyright/CC license that applies to all the articles published before 05-02-2017

Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Author(s) will retain all the right except commercial and re-publishing rights. In the case of re-publishing, they will have to obtain written permission from the journal. Additional licensing agreements (Creative Commons licenses) grants rights to readers to copy, distribute, display and perform the work as long as you give the original author(s) credit, they can not use the works for commercial purposes and are not allowed to alter, transform, or build upon the work. For any reuse or distribution, readers and users must make clear to others the license terms of this work. Any of these conditions can be waived if you get permission from the copyright holders. Nothing in this license impairs or restricts the authors’ rights. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.

Research Papers published in SOCRATES are licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)