Elements_Of_Recidivism

Elements Of Recidivism Elements of Recidivism Recidivism is a tendency to relapse into a previous condition or mode of behavior, especially a relapse into criminal Behavior. I often wonder why there are a large number of inmates who are repeat offenders. In a study according to the Justice Department, the rate at which inmates released from state prisons commit new crimes rose from 1983 to 1994, a time when the number of people behind bars doubled. The report found that 67 percent of inmates released from state prisons in 1994 committed at least one serious new crime within three years. There are many factors that are involved in the high rate of recidivism. Poverty, unemployment, and drugs are three elements that contribute to ex-convicts returning to prison. Poverty is one element that contributes to recidivism because poverty and crime go hand and hand. According to John A. Powell, professor of law and director of the Kirwin Institute, “Concentrated poverty happens when more then 40 percent of a community lies below the (federally defined) poverty level. When a neighborhood reaches a certain level of poverty, it invites crime to it.” Unfortunately, not everyone that lives in a poverty-stricken environment inmates, poverty, released, recidivism, crime, rate, elements, after, unemployment, support, returning, need, drugs, being, three, state, role, return, relapse, rehabilitation, programs, prisons, prison, play, percent, people, one, often, number, new, negative, living, lives, level, law