Recidivism Research Paper

Words: 1736
Pages: 7

Introduction
What is Recidivism- Recidivism is a term, applied in the Criminal Justice System for criminals who despite having been punished for a crime go on to repeat it, only to be returned to a custodial sentence. It is for this particular reason that the penal system need to decide whether the system is effective in doing its job, or reforms are needed to improve the way it conducts itself.
What causes Recidivism?
Recidivism is caused by criminals who have been through the courts and prison system and still refuse to turn away from crime; the causes of repeat crime may involve many social factors, such as society, the economic climate, or family issues that may affect the criminal in a negative manner. Perhaps the need for
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When Labour party came into power, Tony Blair who at the time of Michael Howard’s appointment was the shadow Home Secretary and viewed the previous labour party’s stance on crime as weak; repositioned the party’s views on crime. . By the time they came into power the prison population raised to 60,000-45% in four years. All of these factors contributed to the rise in prison population and recidivism.
Can we stop prisoners from re-offending?
Kenneth Clarke’s views on prisons not working, have been met by some controversy, however he may have a few good points, perhaps the present prison policies do not work, due to the way they are being managed.
According to a report in the Observer studies conducted by Academics at the University of Birmingham; shows us, that tougher prison terms do work especially in crimes of burglaries. The study also reflected that detection of crimes also succeeded in its falling rates.. Therefore their report suggest that if the police were given the staff and were able to police certain areas, which were likely to have high crime rates that would have a positive impact in criminal activity