Recidivism In Prison Essay

Draft Assignment 3

According to Merriman Webster's online dictionary, Recidivism can be defined as a relapse in behavior. This lapse in behavior in the context of prison is people returning to the justice system who were previously incarcerated. Although recidivism is about one person's lapse in judgment, recidivism is a societal issue. It impacts not only the person returning to prison but the community behind this person. Recidivism is due to society's lack of resources to help reintegrate these individuals back into society. The incarnation of people over and over again cost communities money. As a society, we need to come together, and address the root of the problem, as large numbers of individuals are reincarnated just years after being

And while in prison hopefully rehabilitate individuals who do not create a crime and come back to the prison system. Keeping citizens away from potentially dangerous individuals. Nevertheless, with these goals in place, the rate of recidivism is alarmingly high. Meaning prison is not deterring people from committing their crimes again. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, "...62% were arrested within 3 years, and 71% were arrested within 5 years''' (Durose & Antenangeli). This evidence shows how recidivism is a problem within our society, as people are released there is a fast turnaround, whereas the same individuals come back to prison. Another alarming statistic shows "... 39% had either a parole or probation violation or an arrest for a new offense within 3 years that led to imprisonment, and 46% had a parole or probation violation or an arrest within 5 years that led to imprisonment" (Durose & Antenangeli). Whole numbers seem high, other factors contribute to the types of people who re-offend. For example, according to the Council on Criminal Justice those who commit a certain crime, are statically unlikely to commit that crime again, with most individuals being rearrested for public order charges. As well as the age of the individuals, as people age in prison they are less likely to offend once

The National Justice Institute provides statistics on the total cost of all these inmates saying the United States spends an estimated $50 billion on corrections annually. The cost of corrections is growing exponentially, and out-pacing other government services. Such as transportation, higher education, and public assistance (Petersilia). With money towards corrections instead of other programs, the solution seems to be clear. Reducing recidivism, by creating programs, would lower the cost the United States is spending on prisoners. Further breakdown of the cost, can be shown by the Federal Register. As the average cost of housing federal inmates was approximately $34,704.12 in the 2016 fiscal year. Then, in the 2017 fiscal year, the price rose, to $36,299.25 (Qureshi). While some might argue that this high cost of housing prisoners outweighs the potential of letting dangerous people out into society. An even better solution would be not to reincarnate individuals. But instead implement better programs that save money, due to not housing the individual. As programs cost significantly less than housing people who keep reoffending. An example of this savings a community could experience was by Justice Policy Institute, based in Ohio. The institute gave several reasons why it would be more cost-effective to instead rehabilitate rather than reimprison. The first statistic