No Result
View All Result
Crime Traveller
 
  • Home
  • Research

    R. Kelly: Aided By A Network of Complicity Enabling His Crimes

    How Social Media Turns Online Arguments Between Teens Into Real-World Violence

    Kathleen Folbigg’s Children Likely Died Of Natural Causes, Not Murder. Here’s The Evidence My Team Found

    Do criminals freely decide to commit offences? How the courts decide

    We might not be able to understand free will with science. Here’s why

    Indian Trafficked Brides: The Stories of Three Women

    Trending Tags

    • Neuroscience
    • Mental Health
    • Criminal Brain
    • Juvenile Crime
  • Psychology
    Image: Shutterstock

    Psychopaths – Born Or Made?

    The Question of Why: Did Ted Bundy have Dissociative Identity Disorder?

    Teenage psychopathy

    What Should We Do With Teenage Psychopaths?

    A Criminal Disorder? Advances in Neurocriminology Are Leading The Way

    Mark Safarik

    An Interview With Former FBI Profiler Mark Safarik on Violent Offending and Criminal Behavioral Analysis

    The Criminal Mind: An Interview With Forensic Psychologist and Author Katherine Ramsland

    Trending Tags

    • Narcissism
    • Psychopathy
    • Profiling
    • Mental Health
    • Psychology
  • Family Violence

    Reckless Speculation about Jeffrey MacDonald

    O. J. Simpson Trial: 26 Years Later

    O. J. Simpson: Murder in the First Degree

    Reasonable Doubt: The Hendricks Family Murders

    Melanie McGuire

    A Convicted Killer, Two Criminologists, and One Podcast: Direct Appeal Investigates ‘Suitcase Killer’ Melanie McGuire Case

    Family Annihilation: The Crimes and Psychology of Familicide

    Trending Tags

    • True Crime
      Who killed Marilyn Sheppard cover image

      Who Killed Marilyn Sheppard? Ohio’s Most Enduring Murder Mystery [Part Two]

      Who killed Marilyn Sheppard?

      Who Killed Marilyn Sheppard? Ohio’s Most Enduring Murder Mystery [Part One]

      The JFK Assassination … Case Still Closed

      6 Pros And Cons Of Hiring A Private Criminal Lawyer

      Murder To Movies: ‘I Want To Live’

      Real crime stories of murders that went into movies

      From Murder to Movies

      Trending Tags

      • Unsolved
      • Serial Murder
      • Documentaries
      • Guest Posts
    • Book Reviews
      The Girl I Never Knew - Who Killed Melissa Witt?

      The Girl I Never Knew: Melissa Ann Witt Deserves Justice

      Befriending A Serial Killer: An Interview With Mark Austin

      The Husband Poisoner: Lethal Ladies and Dangerously Tasty Recipes

      Details are Unprintable: Wayne Lonergan and the Sensational Café Society Murder

      Operation Jacknap: A True Story of Kidnapping, Extortion, Ransom and Rescue

      Stephanie Scott

      United in Grief: The Murder of Stephanie Scott

      Trending Tags

      • Interviews
      • Historical Crime Books
    • Crime Spotlight
      Korean Zodiac Killer case

      A Tale of Two Zodiacs

      5 Tell-Tale Signs Of An Abusive Person

      There Were Two Killers in 10 Rillington Place: An Interview With Peter Thorley

      Has The Zodiac Finally Been Discovered? [Part 1]

      David Wilson and Emilia Fox

      If It Bleeds It Leads: A Q&A With Professor David Wilson

      A Psych For Sore Minds - An Interview with Dr Sohom Das

      A Psych For Sore Minds: An Interview with Forensic Psychiatrist Dr Sohom Das

    No Result
    View All Result
    Crime Traveller
    • Home
    • Research

      R. Kelly: Aided By A Network of Complicity Enabling His Crimes

      How Social Media Turns Online Arguments Between Teens Into Real-World Violence

      Kathleen Folbigg’s Children Likely Died Of Natural Causes, Not Murder. Here’s The Evidence My Team Found

      Do criminals freely decide to commit offences? How the courts decide

      We might not be able to understand free will with science. Here’s why

      Indian Trafficked Brides: The Stories of Three Women

      Trending Tags

      • Neuroscience
      • Mental Health
      • Criminal Brain
      • Juvenile Crime
    • Psychology
      Image: Shutterstock

      Psychopaths – Born Or Made?

      The Question of Why: Did Ted Bundy have Dissociative Identity Disorder?

      Teenage psychopathy

      What Should We Do With Teenage Psychopaths?

      A Criminal Disorder? Advances in Neurocriminology Are Leading The Way

      Mark Safarik

      An Interview With Former FBI Profiler Mark Safarik on Violent Offending and Criminal Behavioral Analysis

      The Criminal Mind: An Interview With Forensic Psychologist and Author Katherine Ramsland

      Trending Tags

      • Narcissism
      • Psychopathy
      • Profiling
      • Mental Health
      • Psychology
    • Family Violence

      Reckless Speculation about Jeffrey MacDonald

      O. J. Simpson Trial: 26 Years Later

      O. J. Simpson: Murder in the First Degree

      Reasonable Doubt: The Hendricks Family Murders

      Melanie McGuire

      A Convicted Killer, Two Criminologists, and One Podcast: Direct Appeal Investigates ‘Suitcase Killer’ Melanie McGuire Case

      Family Annihilation: The Crimes and Psychology of Familicide

      Trending Tags

      • True Crime
        Who killed Marilyn Sheppard cover image

        Who Killed Marilyn Sheppard? Ohio’s Most Enduring Murder Mystery [Part Two]

        Who killed Marilyn Sheppard?

        Who Killed Marilyn Sheppard? Ohio’s Most Enduring Murder Mystery [Part One]

        The JFK Assassination … Case Still Closed

        6 Pros And Cons Of Hiring A Private Criminal Lawyer

        Murder To Movies: ‘I Want To Live’

        Real crime stories of murders that went into movies

        From Murder to Movies

        Trending Tags

        • Unsolved
        • Serial Murder
        • Documentaries
        • Guest Posts
      • Book Reviews
        The Girl I Never Knew - Who Killed Melissa Witt?

        The Girl I Never Knew: Melissa Ann Witt Deserves Justice

        Befriending A Serial Killer: An Interview With Mark Austin

        The Husband Poisoner: Lethal Ladies and Dangerously Tasty Recipes

        Details are Unprintable: Wayne Lonergan and the Sensational Café Society Murder

        Operation Jacknap: A True Story of Kidnapping, Extortion, Ransom and Rescue

        Stephanie Scott

        United in Grief: The Murder of Stephanie Scott

        Trending Tags

        • Interviews
        • Historical Crime Books
      • Crime Spotlight
        Korean Zodiac Killer case

        A Tale of Two Zodiacs

        5 Tell-Tale Signs Of An Abusive Person

        There Were Two Killers in 10 Rillington Place: An Interview With Peter Thorley

        Has The Zodiac Finally Been Discovered? [Part 1]

        David Wilson and Emilia Fox

        If It Bleeds It Leads: A Q&A With Professor David Wilson

        A Psych For Sore Minds - An Interview with Dr Sohom Das

        A Psych For Sore Minds: An Interview with Forensic Psychiatrist Dr Sohom Das

      Crime Traveller
      No Result
      View All Result
      • Home
      • Research
      • Psychology
      • Family Violence
      • True Crime
      • Book Reviews
      • Crime Spotlight

      Home » True Crime & Justice » Reoffending Rates And Why Prisons Are Failing

      Reoffending Rates And Why Prisons Are Failing

      by Fiona Guy
      26 August, 2020
      in True Crime & Justice
      A A
      Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare

      For a large percentage of convicted criminals, sending them to prison is a pointless exercise. Maybe in the past imprisoning an individual for their crimes was an effective way of removing them from society and showing them the consequences of their behavior. A practical course of action if you will, to stop them returning to this behavior upon release. It would appear however that those days are gone. In fact, the more our society imprisons people, the more they re-offend.

      Between 2012 and 2013 in England and Wales, 58% of adults who served a prison sentence of less than 12 months reoffended according to the Ministry of Justice.  Furthermore, 20% of people sentenced in 2003 had committed 15 or more previous crimes, in 2013, this had reached 33%. Prison sentences do serve an important purpose.

      They are an immediate punishment for an individual by removing their freedom and their ability to continue with their behavior. Imprisonment also services to protect the public from individuals who may be doing or are at risk of doing some considerable harm. There is a responsibility of our governing bodies to reduce or eliminate that risk where possible, and that includes bringing down the reoffending rates when people are released from prison. However, in order to be effective, to be worth the billions of pounds, manpower, and resources we are ploughing into it, prison reform needs to happen through an overhaul of what exactly prisons are aiming to do and how they are going to achieve that aim.

      The Functions of Prison

      Prison has become a popular option in the drive to deal with criminality within society. In 1945 the prison population stood at 15’000 prisoners in England and Wales. In 2005 this figure was 77’000 and has continued to rise over recent years.

      Prisons historically have four key function areas:

      Punishment Deterrence Rehabilitation Protection
      Being removed from society and into prison is itself a punishment Prison deters the individual and others from committing crime Supported to change behavior and attitudes while in prison The public are protected by the criminal being held inside prison

      There is a consensus that harsh prison time will be enough to reduce reoffending, however, evidence is coming to light that it is doing the exact opposite. The figures are stark reading.   19’000 of the 53’000 juvenile offenders released from prison during 2012-213 reoffended.  That is a total of 68%. Looking at adult offenders as a whole the most recent Ministry of Justice figures tell us that 25% of them have reoffended within a year of release and for all juvenile offenders this figure is even higher at 36%.

      These figures have barely changed since 2002. While a stable rate is better than an increasing rate, a stable rate does tell us that current prison sentences are not reducing reoffending rates and particularly not for juveniles.

      These are the juveniles at the highest risk of becoming life long offenders.  We appear to be scoring 2 out of 4 based on our historic functions of prisons table. While prisons are a form of punishment and they do protect the public, they are not a deterrent and they are not rehabilitating.

      Prison Conditions

      The 1980s and ’90s saw rising unrest and rioting in prisons across England as a response to the conditions inside prisons.  This included the riot at HMP Strangeways in Manchester lasting 25 days and which sparked riots in 20 other prisons around the country.  A huge amount of damage was caused and people did take notice.

      Overcrowding, poor conditions and a sense of unjust treatment of prisoners drew attention resulting in a Government White Paper in 1990.  This stated that harsh prison conditions are not helpful to prisoners but instead can make their behavior worse.  Furthermore, it suggested more community sentencing be used in the future.  This paper and review resulted in the Criminal Justice Act being passed in 1991.

      The Act focused on community sentencing and reducing overcrowding in prisons with a background notion that harsh does not deter and does not equal reformed prisoners.  In 1992 a fall in the prison population was seen by around 5’000 prisoners as a result of the measures introduced and the early release of many prisoners on parole.

      In 1993, Michael Howard was elected as Home Secretary and his view was that prison did act as a deterrent and prisons should be used for this purpose.  By 1997, the prison population had increased by 51% and the consensus and the purpose of the prison had once again shifted to the deterrence model.

      Reducing Reconvictions Through Reform

      Our world has changed to focus on the severity of punishment.  In 1980 the average prison sentence was 28 days.  Today across Europe we have longer sentences, harsher prisons, maintenance of the death penalty, ‘three strikes’ laws, more prisons, bigger prisons – all of these are costing money and eating resources and are quite honestly not looking effective in reducing reoffending rates and deterring those involved and others from committing crime within our society.

      The average prison sentence in the UK has increased every year since 2006.  The Ministry of Justice has recorded figures of 15.8 months in 2014.  Many of those in prison suffer from mental health and substance misuse problems.  Of course, a collection of people will by law of averages but the prevalence amongst those imprisoned is extremely high. Prison has become a place to move these people out of society and into a secure building, to house and feed those who are homeless, in poverty, abused and generally excluded from our communities.

      Simply locking people up for varying lengths of time and expecting them to emerge and integrate back into society as ‘fixed’ individuals is becoming rather pointless, at least for the more serious repeat offenders.  If we could just lock up all the bad guys so society could live in peace I suspect we would but that, in reality, is just not possible.

      There are individuals who either chose to continue with this way of life because that is what they want to do or individuals who are so engrossed with it, that they simply do not know any other way. Furthermore, upon release people return to what they know and who they know. This is a very difficult cycle to break and takes a very strong individual to break free and essentially go it alone out-with this familiarity.

      They may do exceptionally well in prison with enforced rules and routine away from outside influences and stresses, but that does not mean they can translate this easily in the outside world and go on their merry way as a law-abiding citizen. Reform, therefore, is the way forward. A balance is needed to serve all members of society and a structure is required to be effective for those more serious offenders when they are released back into society and back to the public, they are supposed to no longer pose a risk to.

      All views, thoughts and opinions expressed in article text belongs solely to the article author. As an Amazon affiliate, Crime Traveller may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases. See our Disclaimers page for more information.
      Share34Tweet21Pin8
      Previous Post

      Juvenile Life Without Parole Sentences: Are They Justified?

      Next Post

      Teenage Brain Development and Criminal Behavior

      Related Posts

      Who Killed Marilyn Sheppard? Ohio’s Most Enduring Murder Mystery [Part Two]

      22 May, 2022
      Who killed Marilyn Sheppard cover image

      As Dr. Sam languished in the Ohio State Penitentiary, the Sheppard investigation began to pick up speed.

      Read more

      Who Killed Marilyn Sheppard? Ohio’s Most Enduring Murder Mystery [Part One]

      22 May, 2022
      Who killed Marilyn Sheppard?

      The 1954 Cleveland slaying of Marilyn Sheppard would become a national sensation, a fascinating whodunit poured into a sensational cocktail of adulterous sex and graphic...

      Read more

      The JFK Assassination … Case Still Closed

      30 March, 2022

      No crime in history has undergone a more intense and exhausting scrutiny than the killing of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy. The scales do not balance. How...

      Read more
      Load More

      What's New?

      Korean Zodiac Killer case
      Crime Spotlight

      A Tale of Two Zodiacs

      13 June, 2022
      Who killed Marilyn Sheppard cover image
      True Crime & Justice

      Who Killed Marilyn Sheppard? Ohio’s Most Enduring Murder Mystery [Part Two]

      22 May, 2022
      Who killed Marilyn Sheppard?
      True Crime & Justice

      Who Killed Marilyn Sheppard? Ohio’s Most Enduring Murder Mystery [Part One]

      22 May, 2022
      Load More

      Stay Connected

      Search

      No Result
      View All Result

      Categories

      You Might Also Like

      Crime Spotlight

      How Altering Our Education System Can Help Us Reduce The Crime Level

      19 July, 2022
      True Crime & Justice

      Hunting Ghislaine: LBC’s New Podcast Hosted by John Sweeney

      19 June, 2022
      Book Reviews

      Dark Valleys: Foul Deeds Among The South Wales Valleys 1845-2016

      13 November, 2020
      Book Reviews

      Unsolved No More: An Interview With Cold Case Detective Kenneth Mains

      19 June, 2022

      RECENT

      The Girl I Never Knew - Who Killed Melissa Witt?

      The Girl I Never Knew: Melissa Ann Witt Deserves Justice

      22 May, 2022

      A Tale of Two Zodiacs

      13 June, 2022

      Who Killed Marilyn Sheppard? Ohio’s Most Enduring Murder Mystery [Part Two]

      22 May, 2022

      POPULAR

      How Altering Our Education System Can Help Us Reduce The Crime Level

      Hunting Ghislaine: LBC’s New Podcast Hosted by John Sweeney

      Dark Valleys: Foul Deeds Among The South Wales Valleys 1845-2016

      Unsolved No More: An Interview With Cold Case Detective Kenneth Mains

      Site Links

      • About Crime Traveller
      • Contact Page
      • True Crime & Justice
      • Crime Research
      • Family Violence & Homicide
      • Psychology of Murder
      No Result
      View All Result
      • Terms
      • Privacy
      • Disclaimers
      • Cookies
      • DMCA
      • Newsletter

      Copyright © 2016 - 2022 Crime Traveller, a website owned and operated by Alythium | All Rights Reserved.

      No Result
      View All Result
      • Home
      • About
      • Contact
      • Crime Research
      • Psychology of Murder
      • Family Violence & Homicide
      • True Crime & Justice
      • Crime Spotlight
      • Book Reviews
      • Request A Book Review
      • Newsletter

      Copyright © 2016 - 2022 Crime Traveller, a website owned and operated by Alythium | All Rights Reserved.

      This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.