Reentry and recidivism is influenced by several pre-release and post-release factors. Inmates who are treated humanely in prison and receive employment assistance upon release are less likely to recidivate. While parole supervision can slightly reduce recidivism initially, the effects are not long-lasting. Recidivism rates also vary significantly depending on the type of offender and their specific needs, yet programs are often not well-tailored. Moving forward, more specialized, comprehensive reentry programs that address treatment, employment, and housing are needed to effectively reduce recidivism over the long-term.

1. REENTRY AND RECIDIVISM
Dan King

2. WHY DO PEOPLE RECIDIVATE?
• Predispositions
• Family
• Society
• Badge of Honor Lifestyle
• Learned Behaviors in prison

3. ISSUES
• Why hasn’t a solution been found?
• Not all criminals are the same
• Difficult to tailor programs to specific needs
• Too many criminals to give them each supervision

4. TREATMENT
• Inmates are often treated like sub-humans
• By treating inmates more like humans, they will behave less like
criminals (Turner, Myers, Sexton, & Smith, 2007).
• Inmates will respond to their environments accordingly.
• If they learn in prison that they can no right, they will engrave that belief
into their minds.
• This idea can be transferred into post-release programs as well.

5. EMPLOYMENT
• Recidivism is much more common in unemployed releases than in
releases that have secure employment (Valentine & Redcross 2015).
• Employment led to a 2.2% reduction in recidivism over a two-year
period (Farabee, Zhang, & Wright, 2014).
• This can tie in with feeling like a human and not a criminal
• Keeps the ex-offender out of trouble and busy with work
• Makes them feel like a normal member of society and not a shunned convict

6. PAROLE
• Parolees were five percent less likely to be rearrested than their
unconditionally released counterparts.
• Although, after 5 years of supervision, the number drops to only a 1%
difference.
• This shows that there is little proof of long-term success rates anywhere.
• Parole is a privilege and does not have to be used.
• Inmates who actively chose to surpass parole and max out their sentences
recidivated at a 9% higher rate than those who wanted to be on it

7. PRE-RELEASE PROGRAMS
• Successful at a much lower rate than post-release, parole-type,
programs.
• Are prisoners just going through the motions in these pre-release
programs so they can get out earlier?

8. AGE
• Younger offenders recidivate at a much higher rate than older offenders
as a whole.
• Why?
• Lifestyle
• Older offenders can’t deal with prison anymore
• Learned lesson, feel guilty

9. HOUSING
• Offenders who are released into a living situation without permanent
housing offend at higher rates than those who have a place to live.
• Programs out there exist that help acquire housing for offenders before
they get out.
• These programs are effective and beneficial for inmates who would
otherwise be released to no family or friends.
• Many prisoners did describe pre-release housing plans falling apart once
they were back in the community (Luther, Reichert, Holloway, Roth, &
Aalsma, 2011).

10. PRIOR CONVICTIONS/HISTORY
• Inmates who have a history of drug or alcohol abuse should not be put
through the same types of programs as those who have committed
robbery or burglary.
• This ties in with tailoring to the specific needs of the offenders
• Costs money to do this

11. THE FUTURE
• Specific, tailored programs for different types of offenders.
• Active-supervision, and less unconditionally released prisoners.
• Better work on securing employment, and housing.
• Better assessments on the specific needs of offenders.
• Better treatment of offenders to be treated like humans.
• Combine treatment, employment, and housing into one program.

12. WORKS CITED
• Annucci, Anthony. (2014, November). Return rate for parolees committing
new felony crimes hits historic low. Department of Corrections (2014).
Retrieved March 03, 2016, from
http://www.doccs.ny.gov/PressRel/2014/Recidivism_Rates_2010.pdf
•
• Chi, K. Y., & Joo, H. J. (2009, Spring). Predictors of recidivism across major
age groups of parolees in Texas. Retrieved March 08, 2016, from
http://www.cjcj.org/uploads/cjcj/documents/predictors_of.pdf
•
• Cook, Philip J., Kang, Songman, Braga, Anthony A., Ludwig, Jens, O’Brien,
Mallory E. (2014). An experimental evaluation of a comprehensive
employment-oriented prisoner re-entry program. Journal of Quantitative
Criminology, 12-20.

13. • Dhami MK, Mandel DR, Loewenstein G, & Ayton P. (2006). Prisoners' positive illusions of
their post-release success. Law and Human Behavior, 30(6) 631-647.
•
• Durose, M., Snyder, H., & Cooper, A. (2015, September). Multistate criminal history patterns
of prisoners released in 30 states. Retrieved March 03, 2016, from
http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/mschpprts05.pdf
•
• Farabee, D., Zhang, S. X., & Wright, B. (2014). An experimental evaluation of a nationally
recognized employment-focused offender reentry program. Journal Of Experimental
Criminology, 10(3), 309-322.
•
• Geerken, M. R., & Hayes, H. D. (1993). Probation and parole: Public risk and the future of
incarceration alternatives*. Criminology, 31(4), 549-564.
•
• Goldstein, D. (2014, December 04). The misleading math of 'Recidivism'. Retrieved March 08,
2016, from https://www.themarshallproject.org/2014/12/04/the-misleading-math-of-
recidivism#.9fkIkH37V

14. • Kimora. (2008). The emerging paradigm in probation and parole in the United States. Journal
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•
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nonresidential drug treatment on recidivism among drug-involved probationers. Crime &
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•
• Luther J.B., Reichert E.S., Holloway E.D., Roth A.M., & Aalsma M.C. (2011). An exploration of
community reentry needs and services for prisoners: a focus on care to limit return to high-
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•
• Mears, D. P., Wang, X., Hay, C., & Bales, W. D. (2008). Social ecology and recidivism:
Implications for prisoner reentry. Criminology, 46(2), 301-340.
•
• Ostermann, M. (2013). Active supervision and its impact upon parolee recidivism rates. Crime
& Delinquency, 59(4), 487-509.

15. • Ostermann, M. (2012). Recidivism and the propensity to forgo parole release. JQ: Justice
Quarterly, 29(4).
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• Paparozzi, M., & Demichele, M. (2008). Probation and parole: Overworked, misunderstood, and
under-appreciated: But why? The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, 47(3), 275-296.
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• “Recidivism.” (n.d.). National Institute of Justice. Retrieved March 08, 2016, from
http://www.nij.gov/topics/corrections/recidivism/pages/welcome.aspx
•
• Severson, M. E., Bruns, K., Veeh, C., & Lee, J. (2011). Prisoner reentry programming: Who
recidivates and when? Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 50(6), 327-348.
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• Turner, S., Myers, R., Sexton, L., & Smith, S. (2007). What crime rates tell us about where to focus
programs and services for prisoners. Criminology & Public Policy, 6(3).
•
• Valentine, E. J., & Redcross, C. (2015). Transitional jobs after release from prison: effects on
employment and recidivism. IZA Journal of Labor Policy, 4(1), 1-17.
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• Wikoff, N., Linhorst, D. M., & Morani, N. (2012). Recidivism among participants of a reentry
program for prisoners released without supervision. Social Work Research, 36(4), 289-299 11p.