Recidivism

Recidivism is one of the most fundamental concepts in criminal justice. It refers to a person's relapse into criminal behavior, often after the person receives sanctions or undergoes intervention for a previous crime.

Recidivism research is embedded throughout NIJ-sponsored research in sentencing, corrections, and desistance, as well as many policy intervention evaluations. Numerous NIJ-funded studies of community supervision use recidivism as a way to measure success, ultimately informing probation and parole policy. Recidivism is also a concern for prison and jail administrators as they are tasked with preparing incarcerated individuals for successful reentry into the community upon release.

Recidivism is often measured by criminal acts that resulted in rearrest, reconviction, or return to incarceration with or without a new sentence during a specific follow-up period following the person's release (e.g., for 3 years post-release). Although harder to quantify, acts of misconduct that do not result in official sanctions may also be considered when measuring recidivism.

Recidivism is an important concept when considering the core criminal justice topics of incapacitation, specific deterrence, rehabilitation, and desistance.

• Incapacitationrefers to the effect of a sanction that prevents people from committing crime in the community through removal, often achieved by placing someone in jail, prison, or other custodial environment.
• Specific deterrenceis the theoretical concept that experiencing a sanction may discourage people from committing further crime.
• Rehabilitationrefers to the extent to which a program is associated with the ability to reduce crime and improve lives by addressing criminogenic risks and needs.
• Desistance is the process of individuals ceasing engagement in criminal activities.

Understanding whether and how programs and policies discourage recidivism through incapacitation, specific deterrence, rehabilitation, and desistance is important to identify effective evidence-based practices.