How to Reduce Recidivism, and Why It Matters (2024)

After spending years in prison because of crimes he committed, a prisoner is released. Thankful for a second chance, he dedicates himself to living a changed life. He gets a job and finds legal ways to support his family.

And yet, in just a few short years later, he commits another crime and returns to jail. For many prisoners, this is a familiar story. In fact, a recent study from the US Department of Justice found that 82% of prisoners who were released were arrested again within 10 years of getting out of jail.

“As a forensic psychologist, I refer to the term recidivism as an individual's likeliness to reengage in criminal offenses or to re-offend,” explains Leslie Dobson, PsyD, Clinical and Forensic Psychologist. “We structure our violence risk assessments around factors that allow us to gauge the percentage of likeliness of a person committing a crime if they get out of prison or if they are no longer on parole or probation,” she adds.

It's important to understand why a person may be more susceptible to repeating criminal acts. Knowing why can help officials who offer rehabilitation services in prisons. It can also affect programs that are available to prisoners when they are released. And it may even give officials tools to help prisoners turn from that behavior once they get out of jail.

We’ll take a look at the factors that can impact a person’s risk of recidivism, and strategies to lessen that risk.

Factors That Impact Recidivism

What makes a person likely to become involved again in criminal behavior? Why does one person decide to leave their criminal past behind, while another follows the same pattern over and over? Experts say there’s not a simple answer to those questions. You have to look at a person holistically to figure out if they’re likely to re-offend.

“Recidivism is measured through looking at a person's history, a person's current clinical presentation, and a person's realistic future planning or lack of realistic future planning,” explains Dr. Dobson. “So, we can look at a 40-year-old man who was in prison for 40 years and compare the likeliness of his recidivism to other individuals with similar crimes, backgrounds, age, ethnicity, etc.” she states.

Research also shows that the age of a person at the time they committed the crime, and the steps taken to help restore them, have a significant impact on their recidivism risk. Family involvement, mental and physical health, lack of control over impulses, and whether a person is sorry for their crimes also make a difference.

Exterior factors, such as returning a person to the same environment, failing to give them tools to think differently and succeed, and not providing opportunities create a greater chance of a person resorting to criminal behavior again.

“A person's past criminal history is indicative of future violence. If a person has criminal versatility such as many different types of crimes, they are more likely to recidivate in the future,” adds Dr. Dobson. She notes that she has observed real-life examples of recidivism in action—and saw outside circ*mstances make a difference in their internal actions.

“After working in prisons, jails, [and] in the state hospital system for many years, almost everybody I worked with eventually came back and was incarcerated or hospitalized. This wasn't entirely their fault at times. But because they were released directly from a fully encompassed facility back to their home where the trauma, abuse, crimes occurred, and without proper funding or support, they succumbed to the way of life that they were used to prior to their arrest,” states Dr. Dobson.

Measuring recidivism using just one or even just a handful of factors is not effective. Looking at a person’s behavior, mental state, surroundings, and childhood provides a helpful look at why they may be at higher risk of recidivism, and how officials can help them create a more promising future.

Strategies to Reduce Recidivism Rates

Recidivism rates can vary widely, depending on whether research is looking at the factors alone, or incorporating the rates of prisoners who actually reoffend into their numbers.

Either way, people understand that the tendency to re-offend is the problem. The hope is to find solutions that can make a positive difference. Here are a few strategies to make that happen.

“I worked with a prisoner for about a year, and he came from a very gang-ridden area in Compton. He didn't trust me and over the year we built trust and rapport. [We] role-played on how he would say no to drugs, and we planned out the next five years of his life. He was one of the only people I saw get released and did not return,” Dr. Dobson states. “I actually saw him in a grocery store years later, and he said he was doing very well,” she adds.

Putting practical plans into practice can be just the help that someone needs. It can be the difference between a changed life, and a continual struggle to break free of the criminal justice system.

“I have seen that individuals are less likely to engage in similar crimes in the future if they demonstrate insight into the wrongfulness of their prior acts, and a desire to be a part of their community in a meaningful way, with profound relationships, work, and integration into society,” Dr. Dobson concludes.