Recidivism has been a core concern in our Criminal Justice System. It is defined as the relapse of inmates into criminal behavior, after they have already received a punishment for a previous offense. According to the statistics recidivism rates remain high.  This includes public order crimes, violent crimes, property crimes, and drug crimes. Out of the four categories public order offenses are the most common for rearrests. Public offenses include  driving under the influence, weapon violations, and disorderly conduct. These recidivism rates are measure by the criminal acts that result in a form of punishment and after a specific timeframe the individual returns into the system. The concept of recidivism is important as we consider different ways to break the cycle, and improve our system. 

There are a number of different programs that can be implemented to help lower recidivism rates. For example, a non -profit organization in North Carolina called Recidivism Reduction Educational Programs Services (RREPS)  is dedicated to keeping former inmates from going back into system. They offer mentorships that they refer to as  a "Transitional Partner." This allows former inmates to have a support system, and someone they can reach out to for help. RREPS will also help former inmates with housing, employment, and healthcare. Helping with reentry infrastructures is a way of helping former inmates break the cycles that may have caused them to participate in criminal behavior in the first place.

In Ohio, and California they have started to roll out the idea of building "school districts" within federal prisons. Studies show that eduction programs lower recidivism rates by 43 percent. Giving inmates an access to any kind of education whether it is a trade, GED, or higher education allows inmates to be motivated to do better, and have something to look forward to when they are done serving their sentence. Furthermore, they have also suggested tablet-based programs for education. This would allow inmates to use a tablet so they can take online courses. This is huge reform as it would allow inmates to prepare for jobs, make reentry much easier, and give them a second chance to do the right thing, 

Mental health is a huge factor as to why  former inmates relapse and end up back in the system.  The idea of mental health experts, and criminal justice staff working together has been widely accepted. It is important the criminal justice system doesn't just hand off inmates to care providers. Instead, use legal leverage to help inmates receive the necessary treatment and services.  These services include specialized mental health courts, specialized probation and/or parole, pre-trial programs, and conditional release. 

In conclusion, sending individuals to prison/jail over and over again is not helping anyone.  It is important that we learn why the individual ended up in the system in the first place and what we can do to help them. It starts with providing them with the resources to do better, and break the cycles and struggles they face outside of prisons/jail. I urge policymakers, correctional facility administrators, and community leaders to take immediate action. Let us work together to create a more effective and humane justice system. Please sign this petition to demand better programs to reduce recidivism rates for the betterment of our society.

Lamberti, J. S. (2016, November 1). Preventing criminal recidivism through Mental Health and Criminal Justice collaboration. Psychiatric services (Washington, D.C.). https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7280932/

 New National Recidivism Report. Council on Criminal Justice. (2024, September 4). https://counciloncj.org/recidivism_report/

 Prison reform: Reducing recidivism by strengthening the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Department of Justice Archive. (2025, June 5). https://www.justice.gov/archives/prison-reform

RREPS. (n.d.). https://rreps.net/