When a person commits a crime, typically, they are punished with the goal in mind being that they do not commit the crime again. Demonstrating to society that certain behaviours are unacceptable and will not be tolerated in the eyes of the law provides both a sense of deterrence and a sense of safety for other members of society. Yet, issues with recidivism still remain, so how do we combat recidivism? What exactly is the meaning of recidivism?
- We are going to delve into the meaning of recidivism.
- First, we will establish the definition of recidivism.
- Then, we will cover recidivism rates, exploring how restorative justice and recidivism affect recidivism rates.
- We will briefly highlight anti-recidivism programs. Finally, we will discuss the benefits of reducing recidivism, as well as the alternatives to custodial sentencing.
Fig. 1 - Recidivism refers to repeat offending.
Recidivism Meaning
Custodial sentencing is when a convicted criminal is put in prison or another institution, such as a mental facility or young offender’s institute, and is used to punish, rehabilitate, and generally deter undesirable societal behaviours. According to the law, if someone commits a crime, the justice system takes action against the person in the wrong.
Similarly, those who have committed a crime, in general, are also punished for their behaviour. However, punishment to reduce or prevent undesirable behaviours is not always successful.
Recidivism is when a person repeats an undesirable/delinquent behaviour for which they previously had been punished, usually with a prison sentence. It essentially means ‘re-offending’.
Recidivism Rates
According to GOV.UK, as of December 2019, around 25.2% of adults in the UK had a proven re-offending rate. A 2013 report revealed that approximately 66% of ex-prisoners re-offend when they have unstable living situations, compared to 51% of those with stable accommodation.
Different factors affect the rate of recidivism.
Recidivism costs the economy a lot, as the criminal has gone through punishment, with the goal being that they would be deterred from repeating the behaviour. Society is usually the one footing the bill. Therefore, many governments keep an eye on the rate of recidivism.
It benefits everyone when a person is truly rehabilitated after undergoing a custodial sentence.
Considering the goal of a custodial sentence is to both punish and prevent this behaviour from occurring in the future, the rate of recidivism is unacceptable for multiple reasons:
- It demonstrates to the public that the current disciplinary process does not work
- It is failing to adequately punish, deter, and rehabilitate criminals as it claims it will
What Factors Influence the Rates of Recidivism?
Multiple factors influence the rates of recidivism:
- Post-release support/supervision
- Education level
- The seriousness of the crime committed
- The mental health of the person
- Prisoner ethnicity
- Job opportunities post-release
- Social prospects post-release (friends, family, intimate relationships)
- Access to drugs
Each factor has the potential to affect the rate at which a person is likely to re-offend. Someone who recently was released from prison will likely need to find a job for living expenses. However, upon applying to jobs, the offender finds that their criminal record negatively affects their ability to get a job. This is frustrating and creates a sense of hopelessness in the person, so they may re-offend to either get money for living expenses or to act out their frustration.
Gillis et al. (1998) demonstrated that offenders who found some form of employment within six months of their initial release had fewer convictions than those who didn’t.
Another example is if a person is using drugs or has been known to have problems with addiction. If they cannot fund this addiction post-release and have no assistance from services, they may re-offend to gain more access to the drugs.
A problem with the studies demonstrating recidivism rates is that they fail to establish an actual cause and effect; they merely suggest a link between factors and recidivism rates.
Benefits of Reducing Recidivism
There are a variety of benefits to reducing recidivism rates. As we established above, recidivism places a significant cost on society, so reducing recidivism would benefit the economy.
Not only does reducing recidivism benefit society financially, but it will also naturally reduce the rate of crimes committed as a result.
- Lower recidivism rates mean lower crime rates.
Consequently, society would also feel safer.
Fig. 2 - There are significant benefits to reducing recidivism.
Anti-Recidivism Programmes: Alternatives to Custodial Sentencing
As we have established, custodial sentencing does not seem to solve the issue of recidivism. Some ex-convicts will continue to re-offend, suggesting the current punishment system has flaws. It fails to address the needs of the criminal. It is necessary to consider the alternatives to custodial sentencing or anti-recidivism programs that help ex-convicts. Some of these are:
Helping prisoners treat these symptoms will ultimately aid the rehabilitation process if they exhibit signs of mental health issues. Similarly, providing them with opportunities to learn, gain useful skills to attain a job, and even going as far as to provide job opportunities post-release (by offering roles that do not discriminate based on criminal record) would improve rates of recidivism.
The main issues preventing this from happening are public opinion and the government’s overall reluctance to invest money in the prison system. If the government benefits those who are supposed to be punished, it will not reflect well on them. Similarly, economic implications and restraints limit funding opportunities.
Despite the above rates of recidivism, overall, they are dropping in the UK as time goes on. However, criminals are still re-offending, so it is worth considering behavioural modification programmes within custody to avoid this issue upon their release.
Restorative Justice and Recidivism
Restorative justice programmes focus more on rehabilitating and reintegrating offenders into society rather than punishing them like the more traditional methods of penalising and deterring crime.
- Criminals are instead encouraged to discuss the crime and their reasonings with the victims to understand the situation better and provide context and closure to the victims.
Restorative justice affects recidivism rates as a result.
According to the Restorative Justice Council (RJC), restorative justice provides an 85% satisfaction rate to victims of a crime and reduces reoffending rates by 14%.
Recidivism - Key takeaways
- Recidivism is where a person repeats an undesirable/delinquent behaviour that previously they had been punished for, usually with a prison sentence. It essentially means ‘re-offending’.
- As of December 2019, around 25.2% of adults in the UK had a proven re-offending rate.
- Recidivism costs the economy a lot, as the criminal has gone through punishment, with the goal being that they would be deterred from repeating the behaviour. Punishment and deterrence has failed if recidivism occurs.
- Gillis et al. (1998) demonstrated that offenders who found some form of employment within six months of their initial release had fewer convictions than those who didn’t.
- Alternatives to custodial sentencing are counselling, drug rehabilitation programmes, skills training programmes and educational opportunities, to name a few.
References
- Criminal justice | Restorative Justice Council. (2016). Restorativejustice.org.uk. https://restorativejustice.org.uk/criminal-justice#:~:text=Government%20research%20demonstrates%20that%20restorative
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