Recidivism: Effect of Incarnation Length on Offenders: A Review of Literature

Offenders may tend to reoffend once they return back to their community, which has come to be known as prison’s “revolving door.” This review examined the effect of the incarnation on the length of time served in prison on recidivism. A systematic search was conducted utilizing inclusion and exclusion criteria as the method to refine results for literature. The overall findings indicate that the effect of incarceration and sentence length on recidivism is complex and is more likely to be offender-specific. Incarceration and longer confinement were found to increase the risk of recidivism for some offenders. While for other offenders, longer terms of incarceration reduce the likelihood re-offense. Early-release programs however do not appear to have an effect on overall recidivism rates. This literature review also enables to promote employment-led resettlement of offenders, which is ultimately concerned with reducing crime and recidivism.