The article claims that human service-based interventions reduce criminal recidivism; punishment does not. Findings based on more than 500 studies over five decades of research clearly indicate that any kind of human service-based treatment reduces recidivism on average by 10 percent. Treatment approaches that follow empirically validated principles of effective intervention yield reduction rates ranging from 26 percent to 40 percent. Equally important, however, is determining whether interventions are cost-effective. Programs that reduce recidivism can generate substantial cost savings in the long run, typically including reduced criminal justice costs, reduced monetary victim expenses such as lost wages, medical expenses, and property loss, and intangible victim losses such as pain and suffering and loss of life. Attributing monetary value to human pain and suffering and loss of life is controversial. However, the article concludes, as competition for limited resources intensifies, cost-benefit evaluations will undoubtedly play a prominent role in policy development. Notes