Prison misconduct, prisoners’ backgrounds, and reoffending

This study investigates the impact on recidivism of offenders’ misconduct in prison, net of offenders’ socio-economic and criminal backgrounds, longer imprisonments, and of other, unobserved factors explaining selection into prison. The data come from representative samples of offenders (N = 4524) a...

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Authors: Rodríguez Menés, Jorge (Author) ; Gómez-Casillas, Amalia (Author) ; Ruíz-Vallejo, Fernando (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2024
In: International journal of comparative and applied criminal justice
Year: 2024, Volume: 48, Issue: 4, Pages: 305–325
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
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Summary:This study investigates the impact on recidivism of offenders’ misconduct in prison, net of offenders’ socio-economic and criminal backgrounds, longer imprisonments, and of other, unobserved factors explaining selection into prison. The data come from representative samples of offenders (N = 4524) and prisoners (N = 1848) convicted of at least one crime in Catalonia, Spain, during a 5-year period (2010–2015). We applied a system of four simultaneous equations to estimate which factors increase the most the risks of reoffending, focusing on the role of prison misconduct, and using better methods than previously to correct for selectivity into prison. We also identify the characteristics of the offenders most likely to misbehave and reoffend – chronic offenders with complex criminal histories. Our results confirm that misconduct significantly predicts reoffending. It is not just a reflection of offender’s problematic dispositions imported into prison, but also a sign of maladjustment to imprisonment that undermines its possibly deterrent or capacitating effects.
ISSN:2157-6475
DOI:10.1080/01924036.2022.2123368