Reoffending

• Recidivism rates

  In 2017, all who had been given a warning, fine, community sentence, suspended sentence in previous 12 months + those released from jail committed ovef 500k new offences - overall recidivism rate of 30%. Those who reoffend commit a further 4 offences each. The number has been increasing since 2009.
• Recidivism rate for prisoners

  In 2017 - 37.5% for all prisoners; 64.1% - for short sentences less than 12 months; around 40% of juvenile offenders. 68% of juveniles released from custody are reconvicted within a year, rising to 74% among those who received a sentence of 6 months or less.
• The rising prison population


  The prison population now is almost double of what it was in 1993. Recidivism is one reason (e.g. those released on licence would be recalled to prison).Longer sentencesis another reason. In 2018, indictable offences sentences were over 26 months longer than they had been 10 years earlier. Average minimum sentence for murder increased from 12.5 years in 2003 to 21.3 years in 2016
• Who reoffends?


  1. The more previous convictions someone has, the more likely they are to reoffend. Fr example, in 2017 49.3% of offenders who had more than 10 convictions reofended.2. Offeders who served a prison sentence are more likely to reoffend than those who received a warning, fine or community sentence.3. Males are more likely to reoffend than females.4. Offenders with drug or alcohol addiction, who are homeless, those with fewer qualifications and those who are unemployed are more likely to reoffend.The dark figure of reoffending.There is likely to be a dark figure of further offending for which they have not been caught or punished.
• Theories (right realism and marxism)


  Right realistsargue that prisons work. Offenders are rational actors so the fear of being jailed acts as a deterrent to offending. However, the high rate of reoffending shows that this is not so - a fact that right realists fail to explain.Marxistsargued that it is not surprising that unemployed offenders are more likely to reoffend, since they have little chance of meeting their needs if they have to survive solely on benefits.