A comparative penological study on recidivism

Abstract

South Africa has a high level of Crime and thus also has a high level of recidivism. The high rate of crime contributes to overcrowding in prison. The Department of Correctional Services has programmes for the offenders such as rehabilitation, parole, probation, re-entry and reintegration. These programmes are not effective to an extent that they are not changing the offenders’ behaviour. The qualitative aim of this study was to explore recidivism through the application of concepts and theories. The significant impact that rehabilitation, parole, re-entry, probation and reintegration exerted on recidivism cause more problems for the Department Correctional Services. Ineffectiveness of these programmes has a negative impact on the escalation of recidivism. The study revealed that programmes are not effective or adequate and that recidivism is the end-product. The recommendation from the study indicates that Correctional Services should encourage offenders to participate in these programmes. The department should also review policies on these programmes and align them with international standards. The study also recommended that more research needs to be conducted on recidivism in order to understand its impact into the community and Correctional Services. The recommendations on this study indicates that recidivists should have their own specific facilities and offenders that have committed different type of crimes be treated and offered a programme designed for a particular offender and not to use a “one size fits all” approach.