Abstract
The study of prisoner recidivism has long captured the interest of criminal justice researchers. Recidivism studies attempt to answer a variety of questions ranging from what are the characteristics of those who reoffend, what factors predict offender recidivism, and how long does a recidivist remain in the community before finding themselves in conflict with the law again. Unlike many studies that examine recidivism over a relatively short term - three to five years, this study investigates recidivism over a 15-year period among a group of female offenders released from a Massachusetts prison in 1995. Findings point to three propositions moving forward. First, correctional programming geared specifically toward youthful offenders might be necessary to promote desistance over the life course. Second, offender monitoring and accountability up to 36 months after release from incarceration may reduce the risk of re-offending. Third, studies with a follow-up period of ten years would be a valuable addition to the recidivism literature to advance our understanding of chronic offending among women.
Highlights
The study of prisoner recidivism has long captured the interest of criminal justice researchers
Statistical Analysis and Findings Univariate analysis was conducted to describe the characteristics of the sample of 816 women
This study provides additional evidence to the literature that race of the offender is not significantly associated with female recidivism
Summary
The study of prisoner recidivism has long captured the interest of criminal justice researchers. Unlike many studies that examine recidivism over a relatively short term – three to five years, this study investigates recidivism over a 15-year period among a group of female offenders released from a Massachusetts prison in 1995. Los estudios con un período de seguimiento de diez años, serían una valiosa aportación a la literatura sobre reincidencia para avanzar en nuestra comprensión de la delincuencia crónica entre las mujeres. Despite having only 5% of the world’s population, the United States incarcerates 25% of those who are imprisoned worldwide (American Civil Liberties Union, 2011). Over 1.6 million persons are currently incarcerated in American state and federal prisons, by far the world’s highest imprisonment rate for both males and females (Carson & Sabol, 2012; Walmsley, 2012; Walmsley, 2013). The remainder is imprisoned primarily for drug and property offenses (Carson & Sabol, 2012)
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