Repeat Offenders In Prisons

Prisons are said to have revolving doors and there seems to be no stopping the large number of repeat offenders who return to our prison systems through these revolving doors. Many prisoners successfully return to their communities once released from incarceration, however, a large percentage find themselves unprepared to deal with the challenges and hardships that come with the process of social reintegration and become repeat offenders, made evident by the pattern of inmates who serve their sentences, get released back into their communities, and then end up committing more crimes and returning to prison (Evans). With their frequent return to prison, repeat offenders become familiar faces, and they are comfortable being there since they …show more content…
An alarming research study released indicated that many repeat offenders in Texas prisons are the result of persons who initially entered as “petty offenders”, and only after learning bad habits and behavior from hardened inmates, is when they “then become major criminal offenders upon release to society” (Beard, Johnson and Kemp). Each year throughout the United States, there are over 700,000 inmates released from prison to return home and then 68% of those end up returning to committing more crimes, becoming repeat offenders within three years (Evans). With the cost to care for each inmate running between $25,000 and $30,000 per year, recidivism negatively impacts society by tax payers being the ones burdened with paying billions of dollars each year for incarcerated individuals. Not to mention, this cost does not include amounts for loss of property, victim compensation, and loss of life. Current reincarceration rates are unprecedented thus coining the term “era of mass imprisonment” …show more content…
However, crucial problems have revolved from barriers or criteria within these solutions and are reasons that a majority of offenders are released into society, unskilled and uneducated, to compete with an advanced technological society. “Determining which prison networks should provide social support is time-consuming and therefore makes it difficult for correctional officers and social workers to balance along with the myriad their other duties and responsibilities” (Pettus-Davis, Scheyett and Lewis). Methods are not in place to make federal, state and local officials accountable for lack of help or access to programs for current inmates and ex-offenders. Other solutions have been modified to the point they are no longer effective or have been