Sex Offender Treatment Project: Literature Review

A comprehensive literature review on recidivism by and the treatment of sex offenders.Alaska Department of CorrectionsAcknowledgements / Introduction / Recidivism / Treatment — Voluntary Vs. Involuntary, Treated Vs. Untreated / Treatment — Types, Levels, Evolution, Relapse Prevention and Cost/Benefit Analysis / Treatment and Recidivism as it Relates to Various Types of Sexual Offenders / Other Factors Possibly Involved in Reoffense Potential / Conclusion / Bibliograph

The role of criminal cognitions and personality traits in non-violent recidivism: Empirical investigation within a prison sample

The observation that many offenders re-engage in crime following their initial incarceration, and the effect this crime has on the prison system and society in general, has lead criminologists to investigate the factors that are associated with re-engagement in crime and based on these factors to attempt to estimate the risk that an individual will reoffend. Given the increased attention given to dangerousness in the criminal justice system, much research has focused on the prediction of violent recidivism. Less attention has been given to the study of non-violent recidivism; however, it has been demonstrated that there is no distinction between the variables that are predictive of violent and general recidivism (Bonta, Harman, Hann, and Cormier, 1996; Gendreau, Little, and Goggin, 1996). The purpose of the current study is to investigate the predictors of non-violent recidivism, in particular the role of criminal cognitions and personality factors in non-violent recidivism

Benefit vs. Cost of Alaska Criminal Justice Programs

A shorter version of this article appeared on p. 5 of the Winter 2018 print edition. / The report discussed in this article, "Alaska Results First Initiative: Adult Criminal Justice Program Benefit Cost Analysis" by Araceli Valle (2017), can be found at https://scholarworks.alaska.edu/handle/11122/7961. See also the accompanying article, "Expanded View of Recidivism in Alaska" by Araceli Valle, at https://scholarworks.alaska.edu/handle/11122/8091.The Alaska Results First report released by Alaska Justice Information Center (AJiC) in October 2017 shows the benefit to cost ratio (monetary return on the state’s investment) for Alaska's adult criminal justice programs, provides tools for assessing how changing the cost structure and delivery method can impact benefit to cost ratios, and provides a new eight-year study of Alaska recidivism rates. This article briefly summarizes the report and provides an introduction to an accompanying article about the report's findings on recidivism in Alaska.Benefits and costs / Calculating recidivism / New information from Alaska RF / Referenc

Sentence Reductions and Recidivism: Lessons from the Bastille Day Quasi Experiment

This paper exploits the collective pardon granted to individuals incarcerated in French prisons on the 14th of July, 1996 (Bastille Day) to identify the effect of collective sentence reductions on recidivism. The collective pardon generated a very significant discontinuity in the relationship between the number of weeks of sentence reduction granted to inmates and their prospective date of release. We show that the same discontinuity exists in the relationship between recidivism probability five years after the release and prospective date of release. Overall, the Bastille Day quasi experiment suggests that collective sentence reductions increase recidivism and do not represent a cost-effective way to reduce incarceration rates or prisons' overcrowding.crime, prison, deterrence effect, recidivism

Contributing Factors to Mass Incarceration and Recidivism

The United States has been historically known for having the most incarcerated individuals in its country. Approximately 2.3 million adults can be found under some type of penal control. Since the 1960s, the number of incarcerated individuals can be attributed to decades of tough on crime policies, controversial police practices, and racism. Mass incarceration has raised significant social justice issues, especially since it has been heavily concentrated on poor, uneducated African American men. Moreover, recidivism rates in the United States are at an all time high with over 76.6% of offenders reoffending and returning to prison (National Institute of Justice, 2014). Many of these ex-offenders find themselves unemployed and uneducated, putting them higher at risk for recidivism. This paper will show how contributing factors like race and socioeconomic disparities contribute to mass incarceration and recidivism rates. Additionally, this paper will present an alternative program that aims to reduce overall recidivism rates across prisons and communities

Recidivism in Alaska

Recidivism data are a tool that can help policymakers determine how effectively a criminal justice system is working to protect the public. Such data can help answer whether the current system is appropriate, whether alternative methods could provide better results, and whether specialized programs such as therapeutic courts can help reduce recidivism rates. The Alaska Judicial Council published two reports in 2007 that sought to address these questions and more. This Comment has combined much of the data from these two reports in order to present them in a unified fashion, providing direct comparisons and contrasts where appropriate. The Council has also been busy at work responding to requests regarding the data originally published, and some of this new information is printed here. Finally, the Council has proposed that alternatives to incarceration be looked at in certain situations as a result of the findings and also has encouraged agencies sponsoring therapeutic courts to do more work in order to show the costs and benefits of that approach

Crime and the Labour Market: Evidence from a Survey of Inmates

In this paper data from a survey of 1,771 inmates conducted in 31 German prisons provide microeconometric evidence on the relationship between individual anticipated labour market opportunities and the perceived probability of future recidivism. Results show that inmates with poor labour market prospects expect a significantly higher rate of future recidivism. Having a closer look at subgroups of prisoners reveals that drug and alcohol addiction cause adverse effects. Thus, improving prisoner health care by installing effective anti-drug programmes would be one of the most effective measures against crime. --inmate survey,recidivism,labour market perspectives,discrete choice modelling

Expanded View of Recidivism in Alaska

This article also appeared on pp. 6–8 of the Winter 2018 print edition.This article describes findings on recidivism over an eight-year period for individuals released from Alaska Department of Corrections facilities in 2007. These findings emerged from the Alaska Results First (RF) analysis released by Alaska Justice Information Center (AJiC) in October 2017. In general, the RF findings corroborate previous analyses which examined recidivism patterns one to three years after release, but by following offenders for eight years, AJiC is expanding our understanding of recidivism patterns in Alaska for a large group of offenders, beyond any prior study.Differences among offense-based cohorts / Least likely to recidivate: Sex offenders / Most likely to recidivate: DV [domestic violence] / DUI offenders [driving under the influence] / Felons versus misdemeanants / Conclusion / Reference