Crime Recidivism And Its Effects On Society

An ongoing and increasingly evident issue in the criminal justice system is how convicted individuals reenter society with little or no gradual process. These individuals often resort back to criminal activity in an act termed recidivism. According to the National institute of Justice(NIJ), recidivism “refers to a person’s relapse into criminal behavior, often after the person receives sanctions or undergoes intervention for a previous crime” (National Institute of Justice, 2012). This process often involves individuals committing more serious criminal offenses than in their prior offenses. Is there any way in which the criminal justice system can be altered so as to either

Sociologist, psychologist, and political figures have made concerted efforts, to analyze, predict, and resolve the detrimental social and economic impact of recidivism as it relates to communities within the United States. Yet recidivism remains a problem in the US. The focus here is not recidivism itself, but to understand which aspects of case management services may assist in lessening recidivism after an offender’s incarceration.

There are many interesting topics in Criminal Justice that can be discussed and are relatable to my experience at the Lorain/Medina Community Based Correctional Facility, but I thought that perhaps one of the most interesting ones to look at is recidivism in the correctional system. It is also a commonality in other aspects of the criminal justice system. I chose to research the topic of recidivism for many reasons, one of them is that it relates to my experience because many of the residents I interacted with this summer had been involved with the system more than one time and in fact many of them have been through the L/M CBCF’s program multiple times. One of the females who is currently going through the program had been to the facility five times prior to this one and many of the males have been through the program at least twice. Many of them also talk about not being able to stop themselves from relapsing once they are released from the facility and being through a lot of other rehabilitation and recovery centers. After this discovery I wanted to explore and research more about recidivism and why it is a common occurrence for most criminal offenders and what can be done about it. In order to do this I searched a lot of online databases’ and examined quite a few academic journals, articles and other scholarly documents and websites on the topic. I tried to find information on the success rate of Community Corrections versus other forms of corrections, how recidivism

Two programs that either “do not work” or “make things worse,” in terms of offender recidivism are correctional boot camps and the “scared straight.” Although, both of these programs are popular they are not 100% effective. While reading the book, the authors makes a very good point about programs and why they are not effective. They state that “they only send a message about what the offender should not do; these approaches do not each them the skills that they need to address high-risk situations in the future (page 14.)” I agree with that because how do you expect someone to actually learn from their mistake, if they are not put into that situation. It only shows them what it could possibly be like instead of what it is like.

Corrections and Criminal Justice are major fields in the area of psychological research. The attention driven to these two fields reflect greatly on the public’s interest and opinion on the control of crime in the United States. Risk, need, and other characteristics of offenders’ influence on the management of programs to reduce criminal recidivism (Andrews,1989).

As a general public we pay monetary expenses as well as the very way of jail, regardless of how compassionate society endeavors to make it, delivers a situation that is unavoidably crushing to its occupants. Numerous Americans have faith in our present jail framework, furthermore trust that it is a compelling type of discipline for the criminal. Some would say that culprits could live good, enlightened lives in jail then graduate to better than average, acculturated lives in the free world. My inquiry to these individuals is; in what manner can hoodlums live edified lives in a situation that just offers turmoil and mellow types of political agitation? It is understood what goes ahead in secret in jail; appalling outrages that make the head

Research has investigated the effectiveness of treatment and rehabilitation programs designed to reduce “recidivism” in violent offenders (Jeglic, Maile, & Calkins-Mercado, 2006). Historically, what little research has been done regarding the effectiveness of offender rehabilitation and treatment has been less than optimistic. However, reexamination of prior research and current research using more sophisticated methods, with greater scientific rigor, have provided much more promising results (Jeglic, Maile, & Calkins-Mercado, 2006). Some of the first violent offender treatment effectiveness data emerged from two studies conducted at the Vermont Department of Corrections cognitive based treatment program, initiated in 1988. Both studies indicated

Routinely in the news are stories of ex-convicts being arrested again, and sometimes for even more serious crimes than they had been convicted for. Currently he overall recidivism rate for Oklahoma Department of Corrections (ODOC) stands at 21 % (Oklahoma Department of Corrections, 2014). The recidivism rate is calculated on the number of Oklahoma Inmates that reenter the corrections department within three years of release. Faith based programs ministering within the prison walls, and partnering with local churches to aid the convicted with reentry do make a difference (Dodson, Cabage, & Klenowski, 2011). The desired effect is not only a change in the life of the offender, but for their children, and in turn can reduce crime in the community.

This study makes use of data and statistics to discuss on the topic of criminal recidivism. It shows issues such as the overcrowding inside prisons, the lack of funding to correctional programs, and a few others factors that lead a criminal behavior.

The author Wayne Morrow of “Predicting recidivism in offenders on probation: A comparison of two methods, actuarial appraisal vs. psychological testing”, focused on an experiment that showed how a probation officer was able to classify probationers into a specific risk and view their needs. This author referenced a lot of researchers that have researched how to effectively identify an offenders risk by conducting a risk assessment (Morrow, 2013). The role of risk assessment is to be able to determine which type of offender will most likely re-offend (Morrow, 2013). Probation agencies are able to determine the type of supervision an offender should be placed on due to their risk assessment results (Morrow, 2013). According to the study of Andrews

The solutions to these concerns are not straightforward but there are plausible remedies to the issues presented. In order to address the issue brought forth regarding public safety, the statistics regarding criminal recidivism need to be analyzed. In 2014 the Bureau of Justice Statistics released data compiled from a study that tracked inmates released from prison in 2005 over a length of five years to see if any of them had relapsed back into a life of crime by 2010. According to the data, “68 percent of 405,000 prisoners released in 30 states in 2005 were arrested for a new crime within three years of their release from prison, and 77 percent were arrested within five years” . These facts are overwhelming and seem to hint at an issue within

Therefore, the Arnold Foundation’s study reveals that the “hidden costs of jail” are increased rates of recidivism among low and moderate risk offenders when they spend anywhere from two to thirty days in pretrial detention (Lowenkamp, VanNostrand, & Holsinger, 2013). Jail to the general public is believed to be a place where offenders are held for punishment, rehabilitation and ultimately to protect the public. The study conducted by the Arnold Foundation contradicts this belief. Low and moderate risk offenders generally are not rehabilitated from their stay in jail and the public’s safety is not increased by their pretrial detention. Once released from pretrial detention these defendants are more likely to recidivate than if they had been

Even today, domestic violence cases continue to result in lower conviction and incarceration rates than comparable assaults (Peterson 2003). It is questionable, however, to what extent activists wish to make this the focus of criminal justice reform, for there is as yet no conclusive evidence that harsher sanctions reduce recidivism. Contradicting classic deterrence theories, the defendant’s demographic profile has proved to be a better indicator of future compliance than the length or severity of the punishment imposed on the instant case. Research does not support the hope that prosecution outcomes on domestic violence misdemeanour cases might influence future recidivism (Davis et al, 1998).

Currently, the nation as a whole is drowning in a current of violent acts. Often the talk of psychopathic illness occurs, but usually actions towards these violent crimes aren’t taken seriously. “Psychopath” is generally a word overlooked or misused in society. According to webmd.com, a psychopath is defined as “an unstable and aggressive person”. These mentally ill civilians are often seen drifting far off the deep end with their violent actions towards others.

The year 2015, according to a new report by Hamleh (The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media), saw a surge in the number of Palestinians being arrested, in Israel, on the charge of “incitement through social media.”: