subject: Recidivism Economics 101: Top 10 Worst Prison Recidivism States [print this page] With prison reentry rates at an all-time high, studies on recidivism have showed a significant amount of prisoners are not only returning to jail in their states, but that newly released prisoners are also crossing state lines and getting arrested for new crimes within one year of being released. According to statistics, out of nearly 300,000 prisoners that were released, more than 65% were rearrested for new crimes within three years. Prisoners with only one arrest have a 20% chance of being rearrested within the first year of being released and a 40% chance within 3 years. This is an extremely high rate of rearrests and many states have more than others. For example, New York has had over 6,000 crimes committed by people who were recently released from prison from another state. Other states that see substantial recidivism is Arizona, California, Georgia, Washington, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Texas and Washington D.C.
Most prisoners who are rearrested shortly after being released are young males, and property offenders have the highest recidivism rate compared to violent offenders or drug offenders. They account for a very high percentage of rearrests. Statistics show that the younger the prisoner is will greatly increase the chance of being rearrested. For example, males around the age of 18 have an 80% chance of committing more crimes shortly after being released.
The extremely high rate of recidivism greatly affects our tax dollars. There are many convicted felons who get out of jail and cannot find a job, it doesn't matter if they are qualified or not. Many employers simply will not hire them. They are then more likely to turn to crime and be rearrested. This is what affects our tax dollars, and will continue to do so. This is why it is of vital important to advance in evaluations to pinpoint what will be effective at preventing such a high rate of recidivism among prisoners.
In recent years, a call for a new approach to inmate recidivism started with the Clinton Administration when Janet Reno called for new approaches to inmate reentry. This continued thru the Bush administration with the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative and the President's Reentry Initiative. President George W. Bush brought much needed attention to this problem in his State of the Union Address in 2004 when he announced his administration's commitment to a multiyear federal reentry program and stated that "America is the land of second chance, and when the gates of the prison open, the path ahead should lead to a better life".
