Recidivism and the Courts

Abstract

Recidivism is a technical term which is defined as a falling back or relapse into prior criminal habits, especially after punishment. Legal control over it is generally considered an impractical and unattainable goal. Attention was directed toward it many years ago when it was said, punish an offender not because he has offended but that he may not offend again. Society has never ceased to hope however, that ultimately it would be able to rely upon the courts to handle criminal offenders in such a way that the commission of future crime would be definitely retarded. No matter how impossible it may seem that we will ever be able to predict with certainty what any individual may do in the future; and no matter how improbable it may seem that society can exercise any control over uncommitted acts, we must nevertheless, always keep our eyes fixed upon this objective. If we are willing to be satisfied with less we merely admit that the imposition of a criminal sentence is the sole objective of court procedure. It is apparent, however, that inflicting punishment for past offenses has not been uniformly successful in protecting society from crime. Obviously as long as we retain control over the person of an offender we can prevent him from committing further crime. If, however, we ever expect to release him his recidivistic tendencies are of vital social importance. A legal control over recidivism is therefore a legal objective toward which we must constantly strive if we expect a constructive social benefit to grow out of court action. Those who are concerned with the administration of that part of our government which is devoted to dealing with crime have always contended that control over recidivism was not primarily a legal problem. They allege that there are certain legal barriers which make it impossible for the courts to exercise a uniform control over what a released offender may do in the future. It seems apparent that the courts are justified in refusing to accept responsibility for the acts of those whose legal punishment has failed to prevent their