Adjustable Recidivism Program
James Ellis
Co-Presenters: Alyssa Ferrarra
College: College of Business and Public Management
Major: Criminal Justice
Faculty Research Mentor: Fernando Linhares
Abstract:
Recidivism is the occurrence of repeated involvement within the criminal justice system upon release from prison or jail. This is measured as the subset of the population who find themselves re-entering prison or jail due to either arrests or parole violation. The specific metrics that determine the recidivism rate can vary from study to study. This variance can manifest in multiple factors, but will generally be one of the following; whether an individual was arrested or convicted for an offense after release, the timeframe over which a study takes place, and the severity of the crime committed. This amount, when divided by the total number of individuals no longer incarcerated, will result in the recidivism rate. A high recidivism rate can be indicative of a failure in the criminal justice system. Recidivism is in direct opposition with one of the aims of detention, that being rehabilitation. This failure is representative of a loss in both time and money, for both the state and justice involved individuals. As such it is in the best interest of society to have a low recidivism rate. To that end, numerous studies have employed different tactics to see what will impact the recidivism rate. These programs have met with varying outcomes. With the large range of results seen, a review of previous experiments is necessary before formulating new programs to address the issue.