How Affective Are Our Prisons at Lowering Recidivism Rates in the Usa?
How affective are our prisons at lowering recidivism rates in the USA?
By
Shomari Bridgewater
Ms Angelia Turner
Introduction to Criminal Justice
15 November 2012
How affective are our prisons at lowering recidivism rates in the USA?
There are many functions of prisons these are: to punish offenders, to rehabilitate them and put them in a position to be modal citizens. First and foremost a prisons aim should be to prevent and deter those who enter the gates from returning. Recidivism is the term used to describe those who re-offend after coming under some sort of corrective action such as corrective action such as sentencing, fines, programs, or community service; repeat a crime within three years. However, since 1996 the recidivism rate in the United States has risen steadily and now figures show that in 2011 “70 per cent of prisoners who were released from prison were re-arrested within three years” Those who commit continuous crimes are labelled as “habitual offenders” they add to the recidivism rate when they continue to commit crimes after under-going corrective action. What’s more alarming is the high rate at which serious crimes are being repeated; “studies found that 73.8 per cent of property offenders re-offend, 66.7 per cent of drug offenders re-offend, and 62.2 per cent of public order offenders re-offend” With recidivism rates now at an all-time high t is very common for a past offender to re-enter into the court system on new and often identical charges. These statistics are forcing many questions to be asked about the ability of prisons to deter criminals “33 states that provided data for both periods, 15 reported recidivism rates had increased by as much as 30% by 2007”. The lack of former offenders reintegrating into the society begs the question “Are prisons doing enough to prepare inmates for the world they are set to return to?” The answer is proving more and more to be no, with not only recidivism rates rising. 80 per cent of all
By
Shomari Bridgewater
Ms Angelia Turner
Introduction to Criminal Justice
15 November 2012
How affective are our prisons at lowering recidivism rates in the USA?
There are many functions of prisons these are: to punish offenders, to rehabilitate them and put them in a position to be modal citizens. First and foremost a prisons aim should be to prevent and deter those who enter the gates from returning. Recidivism is the term used to describe those who re-offend after coming under some sort of corrective action such as corrective action such as sentencing, fines, programs, or community service; repeat a crime within three years. However, since 1996 the recidivism rate in the United States has risen steadily and now figures show that in 2011 “70 per cent of prisoners who were released from prison were re-arrested within three years” Those who commit continuous crimes are labelled as “habitual offenders” they add to the recidivism rate when they continue to commit crimes after under-going corrective action. What’s more alarming is the high rate at which serious crimes are being repeated; “studies found that 73.8 per cent of property offenders re-offend, 66.7 per cent of drug offenders re-offend, and 62.2 per cent of public order offenders re-offend” With recidivism rates now at an all-time high t is very common for a past offender to re-enter into the court system on new and often identical charges. These statistics are forcing many questions to be asked about the ability of prisons to deter criminals “33 states that provided data for both periods, 15 reported recidivism rates had increased by as much as 30% by 2007”. The lack of former offenders reintegrating into the society begs the question “Are prisons doing enough to prepare inmates for the world they are set to return to?” The answer is proving more and more to be no, with not only recidivism rates rising. 80 per cent of all