Recidivism Case Study

Reintegration’s goal is to use the time criminals spend under correctional supervision as a means to prepare the, to be able to reenter/reintegrate back into free society as well equipped as possible (Stohr, Walsh, & Hemmens, 2013, p.10). It is not too far from rehabilitation, but can be more realistic because it focuses on concrete programs such as job skill training or experience building rather than just changing an offender’s attitude.

Offender reentry refers to when an offender has finished his term in prison and he is being released into the community or is being released to the community for community service before he finishes his jail term. It includes all programming that the system performs for the purposes of preparing the offender into the community (James, 2009). The one thing I found interesting is that though the idea of releasing these criminals is good, the system has not fully implemented the programs of assessing whether a person is actually ready for reentry. This is because in a significant number of instances these criminals result or continue with their habits of substance abuse and other anti-social behaviors causing a lot of problems in the community. Reintegration into the community starts from the decision of the authority to release the offender.

Measuring recidivism is vital not only to see what is working but also to show accountability to taxpayers for the funding that goes into operating these facilities. An article published by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), defines recidivism and details how it is measured. In doing so, the article elaborates on the common and varying ways in which recidivism is measured. The OJJDP defines recidivism as being comprised of two elements: 1) the commission of an offense, and 2) by an individual already known to have committed at least one other offense. In order for recidivism to be measured successfully, one must clarify and qualify both parts (Measuring Recidivism in Juvenile Corrections, 2016). The varying ways that states record recidivism data makes it hard to distinguish what exactly is being measured and comparing the

Recidivism is the tendency for people to return to bad habits such as alcoholism, substance abuse, or a criminal lifestyle after a period of rehabilitation or imprisonment. Rehabilitation programs, halfway houses, and support programs are used to decrease the recidivism rate. There are three types of recidivism: rearrest, rebooking, and reconviction. Rearrest refers to the criminals and the justice system; it requires the most reliable link to police data with interactions within the criminal system. It requires the police connection and interaction.

Reentry into the community is a goal of the prisoner. It is a realistic aspiration as over 95 percent of those incarcerated will eventually be released. However, reentry is also a goal for the corrections system. Their approach of doing so involves intervening during the reentry process through programming. They seek to reduce recidivism rates after inmate release; recidivism is measured by re-arrest rates for released prisoners.

Recidivism research, although complicated, shows that a person being released from confinement is more likely to repeat criminal behavior the more that person had prior arrests (Bohm & Haley, 2011). Recent studies showed that recidivism rates are quite steady (Bohm & Haley, 2011). The American Correctional Association revealed that recidivism rates might be declining (Bohm & Haley, 2011). “Regardless, the fact that more than three of every ten inmates are returned to prison within 4 years is nothing to celebrate” (Bohm & Haley, 2011, p. 425). Furthermore, research shows that many criminals prefer to serve prison time rather than receive probation (Bohm & Haley, 2011). Couple this with the fact most prisoners that adapt well to confinement,

In Today’s society former offenders are reverting back to criminal activity, leading to a reoccurring issue within the U.S. criminal justice system. These former offenders are reentering society with little or no progress after prison. Recidivism Law and Legal Definition (N.d.) defines the term recidivism as the tendency to lapse into a previous pattern of behavior, especially a pattern of criminal habits. Specifically, to rearrests, reconviction, or reincarnate former inmates. Currently, there is no single cause for recidivism. However, a few explanations for recidivism may include, the lack of education, inability to obtain employment, and psychological dysfunctions inherited during incarceration.

In the field of criminal justice, recidivism is one of the most fundamental concepts. Recidivism is the relapse of a person back into the life of crime after undergoing some form of rehabilitation through sanctions or incarceration. The measure of recidivism is based on criminal acts that lead to an individual facing re-arrest or reconviction in a three-year period after their release. In many jurisdictions, the rate of recidivism is close to 50%. According to the Ministry of Justice (2012), in the recent years, recidivism unlike the general crime rate in most countries is not in decline. Offenders who have been to prison are the ones that pose a high risk of recidivism in comparison to other offenders (Andersen & Skardhamar, 2017, p.614).

According to the NIJ, National Institute of Justice, recidivism is defined as: “A person’s relapse into Criminal Behavior, often after the person receives sanctions or undergoes intervention for previous crimes. A study of 30 states shows that 67.8% of approximately 404,638 state prisoners that were released in 2005 were re-arrested within five-years.” (NIJ,2014 June) Prevention of relapse into criminal behaviors should be a top priority for Correctional facilities. There are programs that when implemented correctly, have

(Justice, 2014)Bureau of Justice Statistics studies have found high rates of recidivism among released prisoners. One study tracked 404,638 prisoners in 30 states after their release from prison in 2005. The researchers found that: Within three years of release, about two-thirds (67.8 percent) of released prisoners were rearrested. Within five years of release, about three-quarters (76.6 percent) of released prisoners were rearrested (News, 2014). Of those prisoners who were rearrested, more than half (56.7 percent) were arrested by the end of the first year (Justice, 2014). (Durose, April 2014) Property offenders were the most likely to be rearrested, with 82.1 percent of released property offenders arrested for a new crime compared with 76.9 percent of drug offenders, 73.6 percent of public order offenders and 71.3 percent of violent offenders. After being released most ex-cons describe the world as a place where laws have to be followed but you have some extent of freedom. While others feel it is the same inside or outside of jail the only difference is that jail does offer 3 meals and a cot. Most of the time the ex-cons feel this way because after getting out they cannot find a job, place to stay or even get meals; and this results back to their criminal acts.

Recidivism is the act of a person repeating an undesirable behavior after they have experienced negative consequences. Recidivism refers to a person 's relapse into criminal behavior and is measured by criminal acts that resulted in rearrest, reconviction or return to jail within a three-year period following the criminal 's release. Approximately 6 in 10 released inmates are rearrested or reincarcerated within three years of release from prison (The Bureau of Planning, Research and Statistics, 2013). Many criminals go to jail after doing time because they find it hard to fit back in with the normal life due to returning to high risk places and finding a job. In order to eliminate high recidivism with the jail system, it is necessary to provide education and vocational training.

You have a seven times more chance of going to prison in the United States than in all other countries, and an almost 80 percent chance of staying there. About three-quarters of inmates released from state prisons are rearrested within five years of their release, and 55 percent of them incarcerated. (R) With one of the highest National recidivism rates, the United States has produced a country where the phrase, “Once a criminal, always a criminal” has quickly become a reality for most convicts. The implementation issues of Rehabilitation programs and the defective tools used to determine the risks of recidivism has caused an outbreak in reoffenders.

A methodological approach should encourage other researchers to question on the other factors that would cause recidivism to occur. There should be more specific numbers on who exactly is involved in recidivism. Research may state statistics only on regarding a generalization of inmates, what about the inmates’ ethnicity, different crimes committed, geographical area, their income class, the different type living conditions, and other countries other than America. Do these factors effect recidivism in an individual life? Do these factors increase or decrease the chance of recidivism? The existing research excels in explaining why there is a problem occurring within the recidivism prone individuals, but there should also be specific reasons of what might cause the issues.

All offenders in a correctional facility, except those who have been sentenced to life or those who are sentenced to death, will be released for reentry back into society at some point in time. The national average for recidivism is 44% (Wysochanski, 2014). To lessen the number of people reoffending and returning to prison facilities must concentrate on preparing those about to be released for reentry into the community (Carlson & Garrett, 2008). Several programs have shown success through various means in reducing recidivism. These programs include education, job training, half-way houses, and others to prepare an inmate to become a productive member of the community on release. Prison and jails must institute programs to give inmates

The study, “Recidivism among Participants of a Reentry Program for Prisoners Released without Supervision” (2012) by Wikoff, Linhorst, and Morani, discusses if reentry programs with direct financial assistance leads to a lower recidivism rate and predictors of recidivism among offenders who have maxed-out. In the study, there were 122 inmates that were a part of the Project Re-Connect (PRC) group and 158 offenders were part of the nonparticipation group. The participants were monitor to see if they would get convicted of other charges after initially being released. While the article was overall well-done, there are some aspects that could be changed and/or interpreted more.