04-24-2014, 01:03 PM
A new recidivism report was released by the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
The US incarcerates a higher percentage of its population than any other developed country. It's very disappointing to see how many released prisoners in the US continue committing crimes and getting re-arrested.
Nearly 70,000 prisoners from 30 states were tracked from the time they were released in 2005 until 2010.
These are the report highlights:
Total Recidivism at 3 Years and 5 Years
=About two-thirds (67.8%) of released prisoners were arrested for a new crime within 3 years, and three-quarters (76.6%) were arrested within 5 years.
Recidivism by Offense Type
=Within 5 years of release, 82.1% of property offenders were arrested for a new crime, compared to 76.9% of drug offenders, 73.6% of public order offenders, and 71.3% of violent offenders.
Recidivism Rates at 6 Months, 1 Year, 5 Years
=More than a third (36.8%) of all prisoners who were arrested within 5 years of release were arrested within the first 6 months after release, with more than half (56.7%) arrested by the end of the first year.
=Two in five (42.3%) released prisoners were either not arrested or arrested once in the 5 years after their release.
Re-offenders Portion of Total Arrests in 5 Year Period
= A sixth (16.1%) of released prisoners were responsible for almost half (48.4%) of the nearly 1.2 million arrests that occurred in the 5-year follow-up period. (HOTD: this stat surprised me.)
Cross-State Recidivism
= An estimated 10.9% of released prisoners were arrested in a state other than the one that released them during the 5-year follow-up period
Recidivism by Age
= Within 5 years of release, 84.1% of inmates who were age 24 or younger at release were arrested, compared to 78.6% of inmates ages 25 to 39 and 69.2% of those age 40 or older.
Source: http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=4986
I read the report and didn't see anything to indicate what portion of the sample prisoners had been released from correctional facilities with formal rehabilitation programs.
The questions that I ask myself (and wonder what others think):
1. Is it impossible to rehabilitate most criminals through incarceration as punishment?
2. Do these research results indicate that correctional facilities aren't putting forth enough efforts to rehabilitate (or not effective enough efforts)? If so, is money a motive?
3. Is the very high recidivism rate a combination of both 1 and 2 above?
The US incarcerates a higher percentage of its population than any other developed country. It's very disappointing to see how many released prisoners in the US continue committing crimes and getting re-arrested.
Nearly 70,000 prisoners from 30 states were tracked from the time they were released in 2005 until 2010.
These are the report highlights:
Total Recidivism at 3 Years and 5 Years
=About two-thirds (67.8%) of released prisoners were arrested for a new crime within 3 years, and three-quarters (76.6%) were arrested within 5 years.
Recidivism by Offense Type
=Within 5 years of release, 82.1% of property offenders were arrested for a new crime, compared to 76.9% of drug offenders, 73.6% of public order offenders, and 71.3% of violent offenders.
Recidivism Rates at 6 Months, 1 Year, 5 Years
=More than a third (36.8%) of all prisoners who were arrested within 5 years of release were arrested within the first 6 months after release, with more than half (56.7%) arrested by the end of the first year.
=Two in five (42.3%) released prisoners were either not arrested or arrested once in the 5 years after their release.
Re-offenders Portion of Total Arrests in 5 Year Period
= A sixth (16.1%) of released prisoners were responsible for almost half (48.4%) of the nearly 1.2 million arrests that occurred in the 5-year follow-up period. (HOTD: this stat surprised me.)
Cross-State Recidivism
= An estimated 10.9% of released prisoners were arrested in a state other than the one that released them during the 5-year follow-up period
Recidivism by Age
= Within 5 years of release, 84.1% of inmates who were age 24 or younger at release were arrested, compared to 78.6% of inmates ages 25 to 39 and 69.2% of those age 40 or older.
Source: http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=4986
I read the report and didn't see anything to indicate what portion of the sample prisoners had been released from correctional facilities with formal rehabilitation programs.
The questions that I ask myself (and wonder what others think):
1. Is it impossible to rehabilitate most criminals through incarceration as punishment?
2. Do these research results indicate that correctional facilities aren't putting forth enough efforts to rehabilitate (or not effective enough efforts)? If so, is money a motive?
3. Is the very high recidivism rate a combination of both 1 and 2 above?