Crime And Recidivism

Crime prevention and recidivism
There is thought to be a prevailing goal of prisons that punishes the offender for their crime and in turn the punishment will reduce the chances that the offender will reoffend (Schaefer, 2016). However, many researchers believe that criminals will act upon a cost-benefit calculation of outcomes associated with certain crimes. Schaefer (2016) hypothesized that prison could become a form of positive punishment for offenders since they are escaping their label as a criminal in society outside the prison. In addition, she proposed that inmates would have a higher chance of recidivating if they perceived prison as culturally reinforcing, as they are highly respected within prison walls. Individuals who have lower incomes; unemployment and low academic achievement would have more
In order to test their hypotheses, they surveyed 726 inmates in a mixed sex prison in the American South on their likelihood of reoffending. The researcher concludes that individuals who do not have a high school diploma and low academic achievement reported a moderate likelihood of reoffending than those who had a higher academic achievement. In addition, individuals who had other family members incarcerated would reinforce their place on the prison cultural ladder, which would increase their likelihood of reoffending. However, there was no significant relation to prison and the labels placed upon offenders and recidivating. In addition, another study analyzed the prisoner’s perceptions of recidivism and rehabilitation. Patrick and Marsh (2001) reviewed inmates’ perceptions of prisons and rehabilitation in order to determine if the public perceptions of punitiveness were in fact having an impact on criminals. In other words, punishment through a longer prison sentence will reduce the likelihood that the criminal will reoffend due to