High Recidivism Rates in United States, how Do We Lower It?

A high rate of recidivism is indeed a menacing problem for the United States; one that has gripped the law enforcement agencies of the country with panic and anxiety. The state sentencing policies of the U.S. have been on an all-time high; reporting to be the highest offenders' recidivism and incarceration rates across the world. Out of the felony convictions around the U. S., almost 94 percent of the felony perpetrators have been sentenced by the U.S, judges on an annual basis (Sabol et.al, pp. 33). Three-quarters of the perpetrators have been associated with a criminal record in the past while one third were either on parole, probation or on a pre-trail release. On the other hand, over-three quarters of the criminals who were sentences to crime were convicted of non-violent crimes. Majority of the people today believed that the sentencing policies of the U.S. were responsible to cause such an increment in recidivism rates across the country, since these policies were too either futile, or too lenient to have served the purpose (Marbley & Ferguson, pp. 641-643). However, in recent times, it has been realized that with the help of needs' assessment tools, a well-implemented treatment plan and rehabilitation strategy for the right offenders can reduce the recidivism rates from 20% to 10% in the coming era. This term paper aims to study the causes behind high recidivism rates in the United States as a problem in the society leading to many criminal activities, and in turn, plaguing the society with evils of crime and sin. This paper will then identify the methods to resolve the issue at hand, with the help of an assessment of the sustainability of the existing polices along with recommending future course of action.

There is a high degree of significance in identifying high recidivism rates as a problem and examining the issue in detail. There is a need to evaluate the problems underlying existing policy implementations as to why recidivism is on a rise within the country. Studying this issue in detail will lead to an understanding about America's imprisonment system and its loopholes that are giving rise to a high rate of incarceration and recidivism. The insights so obtained, will facilitate towards understanding the correction outcomes and its impact on the released prisoners. The parole and probation agencies' policies will also be evaluated with sharp focus to see whether or not there is less scrutiny than before, and whether the leniency in sentencing coupled with in effectiveness of parole programs have led the prisoners to a habitual regime of committing crimes, leading to an increased rate of recidivism. This term paper will therefore be helpful in providing the guidelines about the issue after studying it in a comprehensive manner.

High Recidivism Rates in United States is our identified problem for this term paper; the three main sub-themes that will be studied within this topic are enlisted below:

Examining the reasons behind Recidivism: What ...