Provides national estimates of the recidivism rate of prisoners released in 1983 and 1994. In the two editions of the survey, a sample of released prisoners are tracked for three years, and data are compiled on the percentage of them that are rearrested, reconvicted, or reimprisoned for new crimes within the three-year follow-up period. The various recidivism measures are based on official criminal history records maintained by each state and the FBI. The first study tracked 108,580 state prisoners released from prison in 11 states in 1983. The second study tracked 272,111 prisoners released from prison in 15 states in 1994.
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Methodology |
The departments of corrections in Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, and Virginia participated in the 1994 National Recidivism Study of Released Prisoners. These 15 states were selected based on willingness to participate, the state's relative contribution to the overall national prison population, and the state's inclusion in the 1983 National Recidivism Study of Released Prisoners. The departments provided BJS with release records on 302,309 prisoners released in 1994, which accounted for about two-thirds of all prisoners released in the United States that year. BJS drew a representative sample from each state, totaling 38,624 released prisoners, stratified by most serious conviction offense. The sampled prisoners were tracked for three years following their release to determine if they were rearrested, reconvicted, or reimprisoned. Sources for criminal history information were state and FBI automated RAP sheets, which contain records of arrests, adjudications, and sentences.
Changes Over Time |
BJS is currently working on a new study that will track the recidivism of prisoners released from state prisons in 2005.
Publications & Products |
Data Tables
Press Releases
Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994 Presents, for the first time, data on the rearrest, reconviction, and reimprisonment of 9,691 male sex offenders, including 4,295 child molesters, who were tracked for 3 years after their release from prisons in 15 States in 1994. | |
Press Release | PDF (521K) | ASCII file (107K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 76K) | Codebooks and Datasets | To order paper version |
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Recidivism of Prisoners Released in 1994 Reports on the rearrest, reconviction, and reincarceration of former inmates who were tracked for 3 years after their release from prisons in 15 States in 1994. | |
Press Release | PDF (195K) | ASCII file (51K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 40K) | Codebooks and Datasets | To order paper version Part of the Recidivism of Prisoners Released Series |
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Recidivism of Prisoners Released in 1983 An analysis of the criminal records of more than 16,000 men and women, representing the almost 109,000 offenders who were released from prisons in 11 States during 1983. | |
PDF (159K) | Codebooks and Datasets Part of the Recidivism of Prisoners Released Series |
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Correctional Populations in the United States, 1985 This statistical report on correctional populations in the United States for 1985 is a consolidation of data collected in various statistical programs currently maintained by the Bureau of Justice Statistics. | |
PDF Part of the Correctional Populations in the United States Series |
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