Prisons and the causes of recidivism of inmates - Research Paper Example

Download file to see previous pages... The rate of ex-offenders finding their way back to the prisons is alarming. This is due to a combination of factors which is related to but not limited to the prison conditions, lack of education programs, effects of imprisonment, discrimination, and psychopath among other factors. Prisoners find it difficult to adjust to normal society life due to poor educational, social, psychological, and financial position. The unwillingness of the society and family members to understand the needs of the ex-prisoners, welcome them to the society, and support them to lead a successful life are main factors contributing to recidivism. The current strategies for reducing crime in the society are not effective and should be blamed for the increase of recidivism. This research paper will explore the causes of recidivism among prisoners. Prisons and the Causes of Recidivism of Inmates Introduction Recidivism refers to recurring or repeating undesirable behaviors despite of the earlier experienced negative consequences. Recidivism is an important issue of study, which entails analysis of the factors resulting to its development. This scenario is very common among inmates in prisons. Despite the treatment, punishment, and training of inmates to extinguish the bad behaviors, they usually adopt it again. Recidivism is also used to mean the number of prisoners being rearrested for similar offenses. Recidivism is used in conjunction with substance abuse and criminal behavior. Scientific literature at times refers recidivism of sexual offenders as the frequency with which they are detected or apprehended for committing the undesirable behaviors after release from prison. Criminal recidivism is attributed to psychopath. In this case, psychopath is uninhibited gratification in aggressive impulses, sexual acts or criminal acts. Recidivism among prisoners can also be attributed to the inability to learn from previous mistakes. Inmates or people who demonstrate recidivism gain satisfaction through antisocial behavior as well as lack of remorse from the actions. For an action among an inmate to be counted as recidivism, the repetition of the undesirable actions calls for disclosure of arrest or conviction. This research paper will discuss and analyze the issue of prisons and the causes of recidivism. Prisons and the Causes of Recidivism of Inmates The modern criminal justice system takes imprisonment as a form of sanction from antisocial behavior. Imprisonment has of the years grown as a key tool for incapacitation and deterrence from criminal activities. Empirical literature on crime and punishment has concentrated on deterrent as the main approach to reducing criminal activity. Nevertheless, there is raising concern on the number of repetitive crimes. Many prisoners are going back to criminal activities after their release. Literature on prisons and recidivism has offered diverse knowledge on the causes of recidivism among prisoners. For the sake of policy, it is essential to understand how prison conditions influences recidivism. For instance, some researchers have argued that changing the conditions of prisons may be relatively less costly and easier than interventions. There are different punitive situations and conditions such as health services, overcrowding, and social activities which influence inmates to seek satisfaction thro ...Download file to see next pagesRead More