Tagged: recidivism rates

The Effectiveness of Rehabilitation Programs: Do they really work?

by · Feb 13, 2025 8:33 am

For over a century, policymakers and researchers have tried to rehabilitate criminal offenders. Despite these efforts, recidivism rates remain stubbornly high.

A newly-released report by the Manhattan Institute challenges optimistic claims about rehabilitation programs. The authors argue that most programs’ success is exaggerated by political rhetoric. In reality, many programs do not operate as intended and have less than ideal success rates. While some high-rate offenders do turn their lives around, the authors stress that predicting who will desist from criminal activities—and when—remains a complex challenge.

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Prop 47’s impact on crime in California

by · Oct 24, 2024 2:37 pm

When California voters passed Proposition 47 in 2014, the goal was noble: decrease incarceration rates for nonviolent offenders and redirect resources towards rehabilitation and public safety programs. The measure reclassified certain felonies to misdemeanors, thereby lowering the severity of penalties for certain offenses, and has been touted as a revolutionary step in California’s criminal justice reform. Proponents argued that this would lead to reduced recidivism and better community outcomes. However, a decade later, the reality is far from the success story many hoped for. A recent paper by the Manhattan Institute discusses some of the ways in which Prop. 47 has negatively impacted public safety and health and put strain on county resources.

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Can cognitive behavioral therapy reduce criminal behavior?

by · Oct 10, 2024 10:10 am

In recent years, the conversation around reforming the criminal justice system has grown increasingly urgent, with various stakeholders advocating for the expansion of rehabilitation programs that can help reduce recidivism. Among these approaches, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has emerged as a potential tool for addressing problematic behaviors associated with criminal behavior. A newly-released paper by the Manhattan Institute provides a thorough examination of the effectiveness of CBT in this context, finding that while CBT can yield modest benefits, it is not a panacea.

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Bail reform increased recidivism rates for violent offenders: Study

by · Feb 13, 2024 1:02 pm

Bail reform has been a hot topic in the criminal justice arena, particularly in New York, where significant legislative changes were enacted in 2019. These reforms aimed to address disparities in pretrial detention practices and promote fairness within the system. Now, a new study offers fresh insights into the impact of these reforms, specifically focusing on suburban and upstate regions. As policymakers and stakeholders continue to navigate the complexities of bail reform, this study provides valuable findings on its effects on recidivism rates and pretrial detention practices. In this blog post, we delve into the key findings of this study and discuss their implications for ongoing reform efforts.

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Flawed study oversells the benefits of Prop 47

by · Apr 4, 2022 2:41 pm

A new report from the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice (CJCJ) presents some information on the impacts of Proposition 47 (Prop 47), calling it a “lifeline to California communities.” The report’s main conclusion is that Prop 47 is a success because it reduced prison costs without negatively impacting recidivism. The author contends that recidivism rates, homelessness, and unemployment all decreased after participating in Prop 47 programs, citing some data to support this conclusion. But a deeper dive into the source of these numbers proves quite skeptical, and whether or not these programs are actually effective remains unclear.

Further, the report also claims that Prop 47 has coincided with a period of record-low crime in California. Unfortunately, this statement is incredibly misleading. While overall crime rates might be down, this is largely driven by decreases in property crime, while some violent crimes (like murder) have been considerably high in recent years.

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Violent offenders recidivate at higher rates despite age, criminal history

by · Feb 14, 2022 12:55 pm

The United States Sentencing Commission (USSC) published new findings last week regarding the recidivism of federal offenders, finding that violent offenders recidivate at higher rates than their non-violent counterparts. The study used USSC data coupled with FBI criminal history records to examine eight-year recidivism rates for 13,883 federal offenders released in 2010. This study is part of a larger recidivism study that includes more than 32,000 federal offenders.

These findings support the longstanding idea that violent offenders are more likely to recidivate than non-violent offenders. While recidivism rates tended to decline with age, they were still consistently higher for violent offenders across all age groups. This was seen even in the oldest age category where most individuals are presumed to have “aged out of crime” (60+ years). Even among those 60 years and older, one quarter of violent offenders were rearrested within eight years.

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