Recidivism

RECENT POSTS

January 5, 2012 | 2:22 PM | By

Quick facts about the revolving door to prison

Dan4th Nicholas

As with much conventional wisdom on crime and punishment, popular notions of what actually causes recidivism–people cycling repeatedly in and out of prison–don’t hold up when you look at the statistics. California’s latest report analyzing its notoriously high (currently 65 percent) recidivism rate contains an array of numerical nuggets that shed new light on the cycle of crime. A sampling:

  • Who’s more likely to end up back in prison, a rapist or a thief? Turns out, those who commit less serious crimes are actually more likely to reoffend than those who commit more serious crimes. Those who commit vehicle theft, at 73.4 percent, register the highest recidivism rate. Meanwhile, people who commit more serious offenses like murder  and kidnapping, while perceived as having intractable criminality, have the lowest recidivism rates.
  • Women are less likely than men to recidivate–by about 11 percentage points. For those who do return to prison one or more times, however, the gender gap shrinks.
  • Recidivism decreases drastically with age. While 75.7 percent of released felons in the 18-19-year-old range returned to prison within 3 years, 46.3 of those 60 years and older did so.

Find the full report here.

FILED UNDER: Corrections, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Recidivism
April 13, 2011 | 12:35 PM | By

What causes high recidivism?

A new report from the PEW Center for the States digs into that question. With state budgets shrinking and prison costs high, PEW reports states are looking at recidivism–the rate at which offenders return to prison–”as a key indicator of the return they receive from their correctional investments.” The report, titled “State of Recidivism” continues: “To be sure, the performance of corrections agencies should be judged by whether the recidivism rate is rising of falling over time.” All other things being equal, the report says, a state that’s trying to improve its ability to deter crimes and rehabilitate those offenders who can change, will see its recidivism rate drop.

So, the report asks, which states are improving their correctional systems and how?

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FILED UNDER: Corrections, PEW Center for the States, Realignment, Recidivism
November 2, 2010 | 1:12 PM | By

Who’s going back to prison (again and again)

Dan4th Nicholas

by Bernice Yeung

San Francisco has one of the highest recidivism rates in the state—some 78.3 percent go back to prison within three years of release—according to a report released today by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR).

The study tracked about 108,000 inmates released from state prisons between 2005 and 2006 over the course of three years. Overall, the state recidivism rate, which has long been among the highest in the country, clocks in at 67.5 percent, which is not a significant change from previous statewide tallies.

Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Corrections, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Prisons, Recidivism, Reentry