Recidivism: Prior Conviction, Reoffending, and Delinquent Action - Essay Sample

Introduction

Recidivism, also known as reoffending refers to those individuals with a prior conviction who then go on to commit other offenses within a set period these persons may commit a crime even after being forgiven the previous crime or after being released from a correctional facility (Bello 2017). Maltz 1984 defined recidivism as the relapse of a person to delinquent action after he or she has been found guilty of a previous crime, condemned and rectified (Bello 2017). Evans 2007 noted that the recidivism rate is obtained using the number of perpetrator relapses that occur three-yearly after discharge from prison institutions against the overall figure of perpetrators discharged.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Nelson Mandela wrote in his autobiography that "no one knows a nation until one has been to its jail." According to the prison performance statistics, South Africa, from 2016 up until 2017, rates of reoffending are commonly used as a way to measure the success of prison systems and after discharge perpetrator programs of management. However, In comparison to other continents, Africa lacks a central database that records reoffending rates, which would otherwise take the lead in the policy development on the hindrance of crime and programs dealing with rehabilitation. This insufficiency of programs in Africa brings about recidivism, out of which the outcome is congestion in prison facilities. South Africa has an aggregate of 243 prisons, out of which 236 are working, nine female prisons, and 14 youth facilities. Men account for 97percent of the population as in the year 2016/17 (Jules-Macquet 2015). It is noted that South Africa has values of reoffending that reach 55 percent to 90 percent worldwide, making it among the nations with the highest number (Jules-Macquet 2015). Dissel 2008 indicates that the benefits of recidivism will continue to rise due to ineffective rehabilitation in correctional centers, which were equal to zero.

The ministry of correctional services placed the value of the prison population to be at a rate of 275 per 100,000 of the national population with 235 institutions which is considerable figure for inmates in any country (Jules-Macquet 2015). As of 2019, 8 institutions are not in use. As per the department of statistics in South Africa, In June 2014, South Africa had a population totaling to several 59.26 million people among them, the female population constituted of 51.2 percent and the male population was made up of 48.8 percent (Jules-Macquet 2015).

Reintegration of Offenders

Reintegration according is a routine process which is based on facts by which activities are taken to work with the perpetrator during incarceration and to follow discharge so that the society is efficiently safeguarded not to encounter any danger and recidivism is otherwise decreased. It entails the overall activities with convicts, relatives, partners, and victims. (Singh 2016).Convicts who are discharged from Correctional Center face a lot of challenges upon reintegration back into the community such as stigmatization by the community and even potential employers, lack of support system, exclusion from work opportunities, inadequate skill training, drug, and substance abuse, peer pressure, gangsterism, mental health issues, lack of effective monitoring after incarceration among other challenges (Geldenhuys 2017). Parolees genuinely find it hard to fend for selves financially after release from prison and hence find themselves living in poor conditions. Those within the society and families of these individuals who are mainly reluctant to provide support and look after these ex-convicts after their release from Correctional Centers make it easier for the offenders to get back to crime. More often, this leads to these individuals violating conditions of their release, absconding, and they relapse into crime, and hence unavoidable high crime rates within the society are evidenced within the community (Chikadzi 2017).

The necessity of an extended period of tactical guidelines and functional arrangement in South Africa that would acknowledge correctional proceedings in prisons as complete responsibility for the family and community at large. Hence, the primary function of South Africa's prisons is not retribution for criminals but protecting the individuals within the society wholesomely, the advancement of roles within the community, and strengthening of development of being human in a bid to avoid re-offense among discharged convicts (Singh 2016). The South African White paper thus brings to light an understanding of displaying correction as the duty of the community in general. It sets out the need for ex-convicts to also go back into the community as they might have faced victimization before.

The Correctional Services Act 111 of 1998 implies a modern-day, and prison centers with an approach that is internationally suitable, intended for the structure of the 1996 South African Constitution (Singh 2016). The act sets out three main goals, out of which are, (1) to implement the sentences required by the courts, (2) should confine all convicts safely holding and guarantee their decency as human beings and (3) encourage the duty of the society and advancement of all convicts and any other individual who is subjected to community corrections (Singh 2016). According to Burger, 2004: 19, The DCS (Department of Correctional Services) major goal is therefore to provide convicts with the chance to thrive into people who can be advantageous to modern-day society.

An approach of using four pillars is evidenced in the National Crime Prevention Strategy (1996), whose main objective is to prevent crime. The National Crime Prevention Strategy is highly recognized as being the majority of crime values in South Africa threaten the self-government of its citizens (Singh 2016). Howes, 1996:37, noted that these four pillars in relevance to the parts on which rehabilitation and inhibition of crime should be focused on in regards to South Africa. The leading players who should be involved in the process of recovery and cessation of wrongdoing include the following: (a) Department of Correctional Services (DCS), (b) Social Welfare Law Enforcement agencies, (c) The Judicial System; and last but not least (d) socializing agencies whose main objective is aimed towards instituting of standards and values to the relatives of those with a prior conviction and community members as a whole.

Currently, however, there has been resounding success as at the end of the third quarter 2019/2020 South Africa's as the Parolee status in terms of non-violations was at 97% (45181/45514) on the other hand the probationers status was at 99% of non-violations (7150/7222)2019 and those on special remission: 35 re-admission /reoffending out of 33613 (Louw and Luyt 2019).

Incarceration and the Values of Re-Offense in South Africa

The 2017, according to the article, Prison Insider by Derrick Thulani and Sasha Gear noted that, the prison numbers of inmates in South Africa's had considerably lowered since 2004 when it was at 403 prisoners per 100,000 South Africa has two super-maximum security correctional facilities, Ebongweni in Kokstad and C-max in Pretoria (Louw, and Luyt, 2019). Out of the two, Ebongweni in is considered to be the largest of super-maximum correctional facilities in the entire earth. The lock-up system constitutes two individually administrated over institutions. The Kutama Sinthumule correctional center administrated over by American private corrections company GEO groups and the Mangaung correctional center, which is administrated over by the British security company G4S. Other prisons include Grootvlei prison, Heldersroom maximum prison, and Losper prison, among many more.

The main problem in prison is congestion, otherwise known as overcrowding. According to available statistics, numerous inmates in South Africa face challenges within the correctional facilities with a magnitude of not having clean toiletry facilities, being in locked up for up two twenty-three hours in the maximum of twenty-four hours and being in excesses of ten or more individuals within a cell, to in availability of electricity or even hot water (Chikadzi, 2017). Danka, 83 notes that the Inspecting Judge of Prisons, Judge Bertelsmann, was quoted saying that without exaggeration he said that, if a (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) SPCA were to pack up as many animals into cages as the south Africans services of correctional are subjected to pack up detainees into a one prison cell, the SPCA would be taken to court for cruelty to animals (Chikadzi, 2017). With such correctional facility conditions, the impracticability of finding a slot in which an initiative of rehabilitation could operate efficiently and the range to which such a program would even be capable of showing its effect to individuals who are living in such deplorable areas being disputable. It is evident that, the department of correctional services regards congestion within the prison institutions as this congestion brings about implications that are negative on the capacity of the department to ensure delivery of its services but requests the government to act on the matter urgently.

Matetoa (2012), states that the main aim of rectification is the societal role that maintains that ex-convicts are withheld within appropriate procedures of behavior for change. Rehabilitation has the goal of which is driven in the direction of prison authorities performing treatment that is of good general outcome and which guarantees that at the moment of release for perpetrators, there is a practical odd for these individuals to be productive members within the community. Matetoa notes that South Africa persists with contest made up of occurrences of vindictiveness in the system of administration of justice, which is happening despite having a progressive constitution and policy (Bello 2017).

Restorative justice is a system of perpetrator justice concentrating on the reintegration of wrongdoers via making amends with victims and the community at large. The South African Correctional Services Act (Act 111 of 1998), section 41 (1) sets out various factors such as convicts' centers of rehabilitation that perform activities under the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) have an objective to ensure programs and proceedings which qualify for the requirements of reintegration of the wrongdoers. (Bello 2017). Muntingh, 2005 in union with the South African White Paper on recovery they focus their attention on the DCS since they recognize that reintegration is not an available conditional extravagance but a rightful entitlement to all offenders

Balfour (2003) notably views that to ensure offenders deviate from acts of crime, the process of rehabilitation guarantees that the perpetrator must be inculcated with the awareness of owning up to their criminal actions. The rehabilitation process teaches offenders how to learn sound work skills and enhances their parti...