NCJ Number
180631
Date Published
April 1999
Length
36 pages
Annotation
This report presents estimates of reconviction rates for indictable offenses and some of the more serious summary offenses for prisoners discharged and offenders beginning community sentences during 1994 in England and Wales.
Abstract
The report also provides information on reconvictions by the end of 1996 of all mentally ill offenders discharged from hospital since 1972 and all persons released on life license since 1992. Fifty-six percent of all sentenced prisoners discharged from prison and 54 percent of the offenders who began community sentences in 1994 were reconvicted of a standard-list offense within 2 years. No discernible difference existed between reconviction rates for custody and community penalties after all possible relevant factors were considered. Results of similar comparisons also suggested little real difference in reconviction rates for earlier years. Forty-three percent of offenders given a conditional discharge and 45 percent of offenders fined for a standard-list offense in 1994 were reconvicted for another such offense within 2 years. A comparison with reconviction rates for offenders who received community sentences indicated that offender characteristics partly accounted for the lower reconviction rates for fines and discharges. Figures, tables, and footnotes