Recidivism

Related terms

Collateral consequences

The legal and social penalties that attach to a criminal conviction beyond the sentence itself, including loss of voting rights, ineligibility for...

Criminology

The scientific study of crime, its causes and distribution across populations, the operation of criminal justice institutions, and strategies for prevention and...

Dark figure of crime

The gap between the actual volume of crime and the amount recorded in official statistics. Crimes go unrecorded when victims do not...

Incapacitation

The justification for imprisonment that focuses on preventing crime during the sentence by removing the offender from society, regardless of whether their...

Justice reinvestment

A policy strategy that proposes redirecting funds spent on incarceration toward community-based services, education, mental health treatment, and substance use programmes in...

Mandatory minimum sentence

A legislatively fixed minimum period of imprisonment that a judge must impose upon conviction for specified offences, regardless of individual circumstances. Mandatory...

Mass incarceration

The large-scale increase in the use of imprisonment, producing incarceration rates far above historical and international norms. Most closely associated with the...

Parole

Conditional early release from a custodial sentence after a portion has been served. The released person remains under supervision and subject to...

Penology

The branch of criminology concerned with the theory and practice of punishment and imprisonment. It examines the aims of punishment (retribution, deterrence,...

Probation

A community sentence served under supervision instead of custody. The offender remains in the community subject to conditions: regular reporting, curfews, attendance...

Restorative justice

A process in which the victim, the offender, and relevant community members meet with a trained facilitator to discuss the harm caused,...

Sentencing guidelines

Structured frameworks that recommend or mandate sentence ranges based on the severity of the offence and the offender's criminal history. They aim...

Explained in these topics

• Corrections and the Criminal Justice System as a WholeReoffending after a prior conviction or correctional intervention. Measured variously as rearrest, reconviction, or reimprisonment within a defined period, typ...
• Criminology, Law, and Forensic ScienceThe tendency of a person who has been convicted of a crime to reoffend. Measured differently across jurisdictions: by reconviction, by reincarceration, or by r...
• Sentencing, Prisons, and Mass IncarcerationThe tendency of a person who has previously been convicted of a crime to reoffend. Recidivism rates are widely used to evaluate the effectiveness of penal inte...