Recidivism as a Measure of the Effectiveness of Sanctions: Experience from the Czech Republic

Abstract

Recidivism is one of the measures that can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of sanctions imposed by the criminal justice system. The article summarizes findings from the most extensive research of this type in the Czech Republic. The sample included a total of 4,233 individuals sentenced to house arrest, community service, suspended sentences with supervision or released from prison in 2012. Recidivism was defined as a new record in the Criminal Register in 2014. It was revealed that 48.1% of the sample re-offended in the two year period. While the type of sanction imposed on the offender had a negligible impact, the likelihood of a new conviction was strongly linked to gender, age and previous criminal career. The significance of previous convictions and their number was confirmed also by the multivariate analysis using logistic regression. The importance of these findings is high and the recidivism should be monitored systematically in the Czech Republic. However, as the research showed, it is impossible to connect the effectiveness of crime control with simply finding "effective sanctions". Inevitably, the criminal policy must be understood as an integral part of social policy.

Restorative Justice Programs in Czech Prisons: The Role of Perceived Usefulness and Familiarity with the Program

“…Given that pre-release circles focus on involving family members in the prison release process with a honed emphasis on practical matters such as housing and finding employment, i.e., factors thought to significantly influence the individuaĺs desistence from crime (Farrall & Calverley, 2006; Rocque, 2017), respondents are likely to perceive this program as a promising path towards mitigating the high reoffending rate in the Czech Republic. Moreover, the issue of recidivism and reintegration of offenders back into society has long been regarded as one of the most pressing issues of criminal policy in the Czech Republic (Scheinost et al, 2014; Tomášek & Rozum, 2018). Furthermore, the respondent's interest in the implementation of victim awareness and empathy programs is likely to be enhanced by a higher level of familiarity with such programs, as they have already been pilot-tested in a number of prisons.…”

“…Moreover, the official statistics of the Czech Prison Service reveal that two thirds of prisoners have been imprisoned in the past (Vězeňskáslužba C ̌R, 2022). According to research recently carried out in the country, almost 50% of inmates reoffend within two years after being released from prison (Tomášek & Rozum, 2018). This is also why implementing restorative justice programs in Czech prisons has become one of the main subjects of interest for the national working group of the European project, Restorative Justice: Strategies for Change, which has been running since 2019.…”

Criminal recidivism rates globally: A 6-year systematic review update

“…did the statistical analysis take into account the use of individual-level data to determine effects at the group level? Partially Partially Partially Partially Partially Partially Partially Overall rating Fair (main problem: the cohort sizes are absent) Good Good Good Good Good Fair (main problem: the cohort sizes are absent) Source Australian Government (2021) Statistics Austria (2023) Institut National de Criminalistique (2012) Conselho Nacional De Justica Brazil (2020) Stewart, Wilton, Baglole, & Miller (2019) Tomášek and Rozum (2018) Gendarmería de Chile (2016) Criterion Country Denmark Estonia Finland France Ireland, Republic of 1. Was the study question or objective clearly stated?…”