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Causes of Recidivism

Recidivism in the context of the criminal justice system refers to a return to incarceration in any penal institution after being released from such a facility. It can incorporate permanent reincarceration, parole revocation, new convictions, and court ordered returns to facilities (Bailey, 2006/2007). Recidivism is also interpreted by many in the criminal justice system as a failure rate, a clear reference to the argument that one of the key goals of incarceration is to rehabilitate offenders and thereby prevent them from reoffending and returning to prison. However, in the United States, recidivism is quite high. Reisig, Bales, Hay, and Wang (2007) reported that within three years of release, more than 60 percent of former inmates are rearrested, about 50 percent are convicted of a new crime, and 25 percent are returned to prison on a new sentence, Recidivism, therefore, is widely recognized as a problem of substance and significance and efforts to determine its causes have been ongoing in the scholarly literature.

Any number of explanations for high recidivism rates have been offered. Lilly, Cullen, and Ball (2007) suggest that for many decades, correctional observers did not give priority to the reality that offenders who reenter society face a varied assortment of daunting challenges that predictably lead to high recidivism rates. These researchers also commented that the data on recidivism and rearrest affirms the significance of the problem. Since about the mid-1960s, approximately 25 percent of all inmates will return for prison as a result of a new conviction in the first three years following release from prisons. The reality of mass incarceration translates unfortunately into a reality of reentry. Lilly, et al (2007) assert that each year in the United States, of the 650,000 offenders who leave prison, an additional 162,500 former inmates return to jail.

Most offenders leave prison with their criminoge...

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Causes of Recidivism. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 09:05, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/2000902.html