Repeat offending

The limits of control

• Prisons may lack resources and support needed to rehabilitate.

• Police dont have unlimited powerts to detain people who they suspect are offenders.

Recidivism rates

• In 2019 if we take all offenders who were gave a warning, a fine, a community sentence and also all suspended sentences in the last 12 months plus all prisoners released within that time frame these people between them committed over half a million new offences.

• On average those who re-offend commit a further four offences each.

• The re offending rates for just offenders who have been released from prison is 36% for all prisoners and 64% for prisoners who recieved a short sentence.e

• Around 37% of juvanile offenders re-offend within a year. For juveniles released from custody, 63% are re-convicted within a year.

The rising prison population

• The prison population is almost double what it was in 93’

• One reason for this is repeat offending

• Longer sentences present lower repeat offenders than shorter sentences

• In 2018, sentences for serious offences were on average over 26 months longer than they had been ten years earlier, the average min sentence for murder increased from 12.5 years in 2003 to 21.3 years in 2016.

Who re-offends & the dark figure

• In 2018 almost half of offenders who already had more than 10 convictions offended again.

• Males are more likely to reoffend than females.

• Offenders with drug or alcohol addicitons, those who are homeless, those with few qualifications and those who are unemployed are more likely to reoffend.

The dark figure of re-offending these figures are only of proven rates of re-offending, in other words there must be some re-offending that we are not actually aware of.

Theory

Right realists - Argue that prison works. See offenders as rational actors and so jail must detter them. Right realists do not explain why recidivism is so high.

Marxists - Argue that it is not suprising that unemployed offenders are more likley to re-offend, becuase otherwise they have very little chance of meeting their needs to survive solely on benefits.