Abstract
In criminological terms, recidivism describes the occurrence of reoffending following official attempts by the state to prevent crime. Recidivism rates vary according to class (socio-economic location) and ethnicity, suggesting that statistics about reoffending (whether events become known to police and are counted as crime) likely reveal as much about policing tactics and possible biases against certain groups as they do about the actual level of recidivism. Some types of offenders are less likely than others to recidivate post-imprisonment. Defying popular (mis)conceptions, sex offenders tend to be rearrested at comparatively low rates when viewed next to those convicted of property crime or non-sexual violent crime. Studies of recidivism tend to result in a binary view of the social and criminal justice fields. There is good evidence to say that few studies of recidivism build in the variables of offence severity and frequency when reporting rates of reoffending.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | The Routledge Companion to Criminological Theory and Concepts |
Editors | Avi Brisman, Eamonn Carrabine, Nigel South |
Place of Publication | Oxon, UK |
Publisher | Taylor and Francis - Balkema |
Chapter | 5.13 |
Pages | 471-474 |
Number of pages | 4 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 978-1-315-74490-2 |
ISBN (Print) | 978-1-138-81899-6, 978-1-138-8900-9 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2017 |
Keywords
- Criminology
- Recidivism