Criminal Recidivism

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Recidivism
Introduction

An analysis of the recidivism issue among prisoners in the United States may perhaps demonstrate the effectiveness or failure of the Criminal Justice System. Recidivism among criminal offenders is a major issue faced by authorities and society in general. According to the National Institute of Justice (NIJ, 2014, p.1), recidivism can be defined as “person’s relapse into criminal behavior, often after the person receives sanctions or undergoes intervention for a previous crime”. In other words, the term recidivism refers to the fact that some offenders choose to engage in criminal activities after being released from non-custodial sanctions or imprisonment for previously committing a crime. Due to overpopulation issues …show more content…

Reducing recidivism could improve and benefit the overall criminal justice system including its current practices. Reports from the Bureau of Justice Statics demonstrate that after conducting numerous studies the recidivism rates are quite high between prisoners who are released (NIJ, 2014). Why would somebody voluntarily decide to break the law, risking the possibility of being punished or deprived of freedom? Apparently, offenders do not take into consideration probable consequences before or after committing a crime. The NIJ (2014) website revealed interesting findings in a study conducted in year of 2005 that tracked 404,638 inmates in 30 states. The results of the study showed that approximately 68 percent of those prisoners committed another crime within three years after release, were arrested again (NIJ, 2014). The study also indicated that most of the released prisoners did eventually engage in criminal behavior. The longer the period of time, just meant higher probabilities for prisoners to reoffend. For instance, about 77 percent released prisoners were taken back into custody within five years, for committing another crime (NIJ,

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