page_title: Recidivism
section_title: United States
hierarchical_section_title: Recidivism / United States
caption_attribution_description: This is a chart showing recidivism rates for prison inmates in the U.S. in 1994.
context_page_description: Recidivism is the act of a person repeating an undesirable behavior after they have either experienced negative consequences of that behavior, or have been trained to extinguish that behavior. It is also used to refer to the percentage of former prisoners who are rearrested for a similar offense.
  The term is frequently used in conjunction with criminal behavior and substance abuse.
context_section_description: According to an April 2011 report by the Pew Center on the States, the average national recidivism rate for released prisoners is 43%.
  According to the National Institute of Justice, almost 44 percent of the recently released return before the end of their first year out. About 68 percent of 405,000 prisoners released in 30 states in 2005 were arrested for a new crime within three years of their release from prison, and 77 percent were arrested within five years, and by year nine that number reaches 83 percent.
  Beginning in the 1990s, the US rate of incarceration increased dramatically, filling prisons to capacity in bad conditions for inmates.  Crime continues inside many prison walls. Gangs exist on the inside, often with tactical decisions made by imprisoned leaders.
  While the US justice system has traditionally focused its efforts at the front end of the system, by locking people up, it has not exerted an equal effort at the tail end of the system: decreasing the likelihood of reoffending among formerly incarcerated persons. This is a significant issue because ninety-five percent of prisoners will be released back into the community at some point.
  A cost study performed by the Vera Institute of Justice, a non-profit committed to decarceration in the United States, found that the average per-inmate cost of incarceration among the 40 states surveyed was $31,286 per year. Educational programming costs significantly less and is proven to decrease the rate of recidivism. While there is an up front cost associated with paying for prison based education, there is a larger cost avoidance by reducing the likelihood the offender will return to incarceration.
  According to a national study published in 2003 by The Urban Institute, within three years almost 7 out of 10 released males will be rearrested and half will be back in prison. The study says this happens due to personal and situation characteristics, including the individual's social environment of peers, family, community, and state-level policies.
  There are many other factors in recidivism, such as the individual's circumstances before incarceration, events during their incarceration, and the period after they are released from prison, both immediate and long term.
  One of the main reasons why they find themselves back in jail is because it is difficult for the individual to fit back in with ‘normal’ life.  They have to reestablish ties with their family, return to high-risk places and secure formal identification; they often have a poor work history and now have a criminal record to deal with.  Many prisoners report being anxious about their release; they are excited about how their life will be different “this time” which does not always end up being the case.
caption: According to the latest study by the US Department of Justice, recidivism measures require three characteristics: 1. a starting event, such as a release from prison 2. a measure of failure following the starting event, such as a subsequent arrest, conviction, or return to prison 3. an observation or follow-up period that generally extends from the date of the starting event to a predefined end date as in 6 months, 1 year, 3 years, 5 years, or 9 years).[2] The latest  [Government study of recidivism] reported that 83% of state prisoners were arrested at some point in the 9 years following their release. A large majority of those were arrested within the first 3 years, and more than 50% get rearrested within the first year. However, the longer the time period, the higher the reported recidivism rate, but the lower the actual threat to public safety.[2]
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