Statistics on Recidivism

RECIDIVISM

In 2021, 1.2 million people were held in U.S. prisons and 636,300 persons in jails, a total incarceration population of nearly 2 million. 

 

States may define ‘recidivism’ in various ways. 

 

Recidivism is typically measured by criminal acts that resulted in the rearrest, reconviction, or return to prison with or without a new sentence within a one-, three-, five or ten-year period following the prisoner’s release.



PRISON RECIDIVISM RATE – a 10-year follow up period

According to the Bureau of Justice: 

  • Among persons released from state prisons in 2008 across 24 states, 82% were arrested at least once during the 10 years following release;
  • Annual arrest percentage among persons released from prison in 2012 declined over time, with 43% arrested at least once in Year 1 of their release; 
  • 29% arrested in Year 5, and 
  • 22% arrested in Year 10

Returning to prison

Among persons released from prison in 2008 in the 18 states with data on persons returned to prison, about half (49%) had a parole or probation violation or an arrest that led to a new sentence within 3 years, a rate that increased to about 6 in 10 (61%) within 10 years. 

A greater percentage of prisoners age 24 or younger (69%) than those ages 25 to 39 (64%) or age 40 or older (53%) at release had returned to prison within 10 years.

COVID-19 Pandemic Impact

From 2019 to height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the U.S. saw its total number of incarcerated people decrease by 17%, the largest and fastest decline in American history. 

The Gravity of the Problem 

  • Each year, more than 600,000 individuals are released from state and federal prisons. 
  • Another 9 million cycle through local jails. 
  • More than two-thirds of prisoners are rearrested within 3 years of their release and half are reincarcerated. 
  • When reentry fails, the costs are high — more crime, more victims, and more pressure on already-strained state and municipal budgets. 
  • There is also more family distress and community instability. 
  • Roughly 1 in 28 children currently has a parent behind bars. 
  • Mass incarceration has been a major driver of poverty. 
  • Without mass incarceration, it is estimated that 5 million fewer Americans would have been poor between 1980 and 2014.

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