Prison recidivism Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Prison recidivism - Research Paper Example or excitement, wanting to get more than what one presently possess (greed), desire to impose oneself on others (lust) and to apply violent behavior due to anger, disgust, and other strong emotions (rage). The problem arises when people entertain the proliferation of these human urges beyond the laws and rules set by society. In study conducted by Burton and Marshall significantly explained pathways to criminal behavior by citing the research of Moffitt who distinguished and categorized two types of antisocial people: the life-course-persistent individuals who have been identified to be susceptible to persistently manifest in continuous engagement of deviant behavior; and the adolescence-limited, as the term implies, are only involved in criminal behavior in a temporal state, usually during the development stage of adolescence when other skills and behavioral facets are still an ongoing process of growth (Moffitt 674; cited in Burton and Marshall 47). Citing additional researches, Bur ton and Marshall stated that â€Å"entering the criminal justice at an early age generally leads to an increase in future offending† (Burton and Marshall 47). At this point, the research would determine factors that increase the chance of individuals to engage in criminal activities. Factors for Prison Recidivism The results of diverse studies on crime have paved to way for researches to indicate that there are common factors that have been found to increase the tendencies for individuals to engage in antisocial and deviant behavior. Burton and Marshall have enumerated the risk factors, defined as â€Å"factors that increase the risk occurrence of events, such as the onset, frequency, persistence, or duration of offending† (Farrington, Industrial, family and peer factors in the development of... It has been explicitly stated that people who have previously exhibited and manifested criminal behavior have greater tendencies and susceptibilities for relapse, especially for those who fall under the identified profile: those who have committed or have potentials to commit theft and drug offenses;younger individuals; male; and foreigners trying to support and sustain their living in another country. From the given prisoner profile, the identification of factors that increase the propensities for ex-convicts to relapse and engage in future criminal activities require closer evaluation of these resource difficulties and address them to prevent recidivism. By identifying the root causes for criminal behavior, at the onset, community organizations tasked with providing social welfare programs should focus on enhancing support from the family and strengthening family relationships. The identified familial problems should be detected and social workers for spouses and children of prison ers must be oriented to strengthen their bonds through counseling, offering interventions and holistic support; as well as determining ways and means to provide educational and employment support, as required. The research studies cited by Burton and Marshall validated the argument that criminal offenders who entered the criminal justice system at an early age have greater tendencies to relapse (Farrington; Moffitt; McGuire as cited in Burton and Marshall 47).