It has been studied. There's some sort of Nobel prize in criminology that has been awarded for two years. Professor Alfred Blumstein was awarded this prize. He actually studied the phenomenon you are mentioning.
What you're saying is something like, let's move out of deterrence rehabilitation and talk about incapacitation; that's what you're saying. If you incapacitate or neutralize these people by sending them to jail for a long period of time, does it have an effect? Professor Blumstein found two things. It has a modest effect; however, the price you pay to have this effect is that you have to do what the U.S. is doing right now, which is mass incarceration.
The sentencing process is an instrument that is not very precise. In order to have these career criminals—these highly dangerous offenders—in prison for a long period of time, you have to pay the price that you're going to cast a wide net and catch all kinds of fish. Of course, you will eventually catch some highly productive criminals, but I want to remind you that mass incarceration in the U.S. has produced one of the highest rates of incarceration known to the western world. It is probably, as of now, at least six or seven times the rate of incarceration in Canada.
So to answer your question, yes, that kind of effect has been spotted. It is modest, but the price to obtain the effect is mass incarceration, and I'm not sure that this is in line with our Canadian values.