A discontinuity-based approach” by M. Keith Chenand and Jesse M. Shapiro. In this article, researchers estimate the effects of prison conditions on recidivism by examining the discontinuities that occur within each security level to which inmates are assigned. The results show that harsher prison conditions increase recidivism. They explain that their results may have been skewed by the small sample size, but are nonetheless important information for researchers to refer to in the future..