Almost two-thirds of prisoners go on to reoffend within three years of their release, a new report has shown.
The study by the Irish Prison Service and the Central Statistics Office also found recidivism was higher among men than women and that 80 per cent of further offences occurred within a year of release.
Analysing the cases of 7,710 prisoners released on completion of a sentence in 2007, the report found 4,795, or 62.3 per cent, had reoffended within three years. However, there were significant differences in the rates when broken down by age, sex and original offences.
The rate for further convictions was 63 per cent for men and 57 per cent for women, although men represented 92 per cent of the study sample, reflecting the much lower rate of offending in the population among women.
Clearer picture
The latest study gives a clearer picture of offending patterns than previous reports, as it focuses on recidivism where the new offence does not necessarily lead to imprisonment. Until now the only information available to the prison service related to reimprisonment rates.
It will enable yearly monitoring of recidivism trends and make it easier for the service to assess rehabilitation schemes. The older the individual, the less likely he was to reoffend, according to the report. While 68.5 per cent of individuals aged less than 21 years reoffended, the recidivism rate fell to 38.6 per cent for both the 51-60 and 61 plus age groups.
Population
More than 85 per cent of the people in the study were aged 40 years or less, and the greatest concentration (26.2 per cent) was in the 21-25 age bracket. Breaking down the recidivism rate by original offences, the authors found those who served a sentence for burglary – although a relatively small group within the study sample – had the highest reconviction rate at 79.5 per cent.
The report pointed out that for the majority of those imprisoned, similar factors were at play. These included lack of employment, abuse of alcohol and drugs, poor educational levels, family problems and lack of housing. It suggested that, given such a complex range of problems, it was unreasonable to expect the prison service alone to achieve their successful reintegration.
“If we are to really succeed in reconnecting offenders back to their communities, then we must devise a model which involves a multiplicity of State, community and voluntary agencies working in partnership on behalf of individual communities to bring about real change in the individual lives of offenders.”
Welcoming the report, Minister for Justice Alan Shatter accepted the need for such an approach.
