Essay on Reducing Recidivism

“Recidivism “is as to relapse in behavior; typically, in criminal behavior. Department of Justice Measurements of recidivism include new arrest, new convictions, returning to prison with a new sentence or reincarceration for rest of sentence. Astonishingly enough, with in a 5-year period in 2010 ,70% of offenders that were released had been reincarcerated, due to rescinding back to the life of crime.

     “It is not a surprise to see that prisoners all have a low education level. I guess a more educated person has enough sense not to be involved with crime…the relationship between crime and education is easy to see when viewing these facts” (Cordes 1). This is the view of most people when asked why people are in prison. People simply say that criminals were ill educated. As hard as we may try, we cannot do a lot about what happens before they enter prison, but there are many programs inside prisons to help rehabilitate them for when they leave the prison.

By the lack of rehabilitation programs in the state and federal prison systems, the chances of convicts releasing and returning back to prison increases rapidly. The lack of rehabilitation is one of the most leading causes to an offenders relapse or to a new crime that will be committed within 3 years from the offender’s release. A rehabilitation program

Many offenders will be released from prison and yet approximately 60% will return for violating the law (Beard, Johnson, & Kemp, 2003). An inmate that has an education equivalent to a

Inmates need to be educated and rehabilitated in order to be released back into society. If prisoners receive a good education they are less likely to commit misconduct in the future. The Three State Recidivism Study

The United States of America is phrased by many, as being “the land of the free.” Yet, the Unites States currently has the highest per capita prison population than any other country. The United States makes up only 5% of the world’s population and of that 5%, 25% of our overall nation’s population is currently incarcerated. A few factors that attribute to our high rates of incarceration include, sentencing laws: such as mandatory- minimum sentencing, lack of initial deterrence from crime, the war on drugs and the presence of recidivism. With our ever growing incarceration rates and the cost of housing individual offenders averaging $22,000 a criminal justice agenda. Recidivism refers to a person 's relapse into criminal behavior resulting in rearrests, reconviction or return to prison with or without a new sentence during a three-year period following the prisoner 's release (National Institute of Justice.) Many programs have been implemented in our prison system to help reduce the recidivism rates. Programs such as educational/ vocational programming, reentry programs, substance abuse programs and subsidized employment are among many programs in which have been proven effective. Yet, due to costs deficits, the clock is ticking to find evidence based programs to invest in. So, the question currently being sought after is, which method is most effective in reducing recidivism rates?

Thousands of people are residing in United States prisons and jails, and they go untreated. The very institutions which confines offenders, creates people with mental illness and drug addictions disorders. Crime needs varying interventions targeting problem-specific areas due to numerous factors.

The revolving door of recidivism is extremely different than it was only just a few decades ago though. Nowadays there are so much more offenders being arrested and released from prison than there was in the past. Not to mention most of them nowadays have served significantly longer prison terms than those offenders in the past, which in turn contributes to recidivism and the increasing rates over the years. Very few and far in between ever really received the benefit of the vast rehab or even pre release programs in the prisons, so in turn they end up right back where there started. They go in without and education and they come out without an education; they go in with no social skills and come out with no skills, they go in criminal and come out an even better criminal. How does that all work?? Who knows but lock them up.

The United States justice system can be described as a cycle, where people enter the prison system, are released, and upon failure to integrate into society soon find themselves back behind bars. Although the means in which the cycle is perpetuated can be argued, the rate of re-offenders is constantly trying to be reduced. One term used to define this type of convict is recidivism, which is the repeat criminal action of a convicted inmate. Recidivism is fastly becoming a issue in the United States as it has been shown that 70% of convicted offenders have been reconvicted within three years of release (Esperian, 2010, p. 322). As crime of any background can be detrimental to society, this high rate of reentry into the justice system has stimulated

Crime has a capacity to create brutal sequences causing unemployment, economic downturns and instability. Poverty and crime combined leave people with two choices: either take part in criminal activities, or try to find legal ways of income which is very difficult if having criminal records. After being rehabilitated in jail “more than 40 percent of ex-cons commit crimes within three years of

According to The American Journal of Criminal Justice, “since a former criminal history can deter employability and contribute to the high unemployment rate of this population. The present research experimentally manipulated the effects of two offender characteristics, type of offense and work qualifications, on the perceived employability of a hypothetical job applicant”. (Cerda, Douglas, and Mathew. "The Role of Type of Offense and Work Qualifications on Perceived Employability of Former Offenders." American Journal of Criminal Justice (2014): 1-19).

Its also thought of a protecting the public from the criminal activities of the offender. This is achieved today in Britain by removing dangerous offenders from society through the use of long term prison sentences. There are other penalties that can be viewed as

Recidivism is the result of a former prisoner relapsing into criminal activity and returning to prison for a new offense. It is estimated that approximately two-thirds of

I want to see crime decrease and taxpayers not suffer in the end. Understanding what factors lead to an increase in recidivism rates could be the grounds to develop programs to assist in a decrease. “Harnessing a greater understanding of the factors that affect recidivism could also help with the formulation and implementation of cost-effective intervention programs during incarceration and the period of probation” (Forkner, 2010). Decreasing jail overcrowding by abolishing harsh laws and creating cost effective programs to assist in the reduction of recidivism could save taxpayers a lot of

In a report from Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative, Steurer, Linton, Nally and Lockwood (2010) found that 94% of state and federal inmates recognized education as the top personal reentry tool they needed before being released (p. 41). Inmates clearly understand the importance of education in their success once they are released, and it is time to provide them with the skills they need while they are incarcerated. According to Pam Levan, an adult education teacher in the Laporte County area for over twenty years, ”They [inmates] didn’t have enough basic education to know they shouldn’t do certain things that would lead them to prison, or even know the difference between right and wrong” (personal communication, December 2, 2013). Not only are inmates lacking school education resulting in a high school or college diploma, but many also lack common knowledge on what they should and should not do in society. Many inmates grew up in a family and/or neighborhood that did not teach them right from wrong but rather reinforced a life of crime. Education is the key to decreasing the cycle of crime because it allows inmates to learn from their mistakes and have a better chance at a life without crime upon their release.