Dealing With Offending Behaviour: Recidivism

Question 1

What is recidivism?

Answer 1

The tendency for convicted criminal to reoffend

Question 2

Why is institutionalisation a possible reason for high recidivism rates?

Answer 2

The prisoner’s basic physiological needs are met (they get a bed, roof over their head, 3 meals a day) and they feel a sense of belonging as other prisoners are in a similar situation. If they have a difficult/unstable home environment or are homeless, they may reoffend to go back to prison.

Question 3

Why are mental health and addiction issues possible reasons for high recidivism rates?

Answer 3

Likelihood of reoffending can be increased if an inmate’s mental health is unstable (either caused by prison experience or had prior to initial sentence). Poor mental health, especially addiction disorders, is related to crime rates, so if the problem is not treated successfully in prison it could make an offender vulnerable to reoffending.

Question 4

What’s a limitation of saying that high recidivism rates are due to custodial sentencing? (Other factors)

Answer 4

Recidivism rates my be due to the ‘outside world’ rather than the prison, so until societal problems (e.g. poverty & lack of support for mental health problems) are addressed, it’s likely that recidivism will remain high. There’s a significant lack of research into how these factors affect recidivism as most research is centred around prisons rather than the post-release environment. Therefore more emphasis must be placed on investigating post-release factors.