Journal of Student Research 2010

The Attitudes of Male Inmates towards Recidism

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incarcerated individuals that reduce recidivism (Freudenberg, Daniels, Crum, Perkins, & Richie, 2008; Golden, Gatchel, & Cahill, 2006; Katsiyannis, Zhang, Barrett, & Flaska, 2004; Vacca, 2004). The United States incarcerates more people than any other country in the world (Vacca, 2004). This statistic alone makes the fight against recidivism all the more important. Current research showed that programs for incarcerated individuals within the jails were only some what successful (Katsiyannis et al., 2004). The research also showed that programs after release had a minimal impact on the success of the individuals in a positive way (Golden et al., 2006). Are the programs offered for incarcerated individuals really what they need to succeed? After the researchers reviewed current literature on recidivism, male inmates, 18 and above, were surveyed at a northwestern Wisconsin jail. They were surveyed on what they thought they needed to not reoffend. The researchers examined the existing literature on what male inmate attitudes were towards the factors that contributed to their recidivism. Focusing on male inmates, the literature found was quite vast, but was not always clear and concise on what the incarcerated individual’s perspective was. As a result only four relevant articles were used. All four articles (Freudenberg et al., 2008; Golden et al., 2006; Katsiyannis et al., 2004; Vacca, 2004) pointed out different variables that play a part in recidivism which were all part of the incarcerated individual’s environment in and out of the correctional system. These variables included: alcohol abuse, depression, attachment issues, age of initial incarceration, educational achievement, employment status, income level, housing situation, and cultural background. There was an agreement amongst all authors that there is disconnect among correctional facility administrators on the Literature Review