Summary
Policymakers and researchers have been searching for a solution to persistently high rates of recidivism for decades. While the number of incarcerated individuals under federal and state jurisdiction has decreased in recent years and is currently at a 10-year low, the United States still incarcerates more people per capita than any other nation. This level of incarceration has real consequences.
By some estimates, nearly 70 million Americans have a criminal record. According to a Bureau of Justice Statistics report, if you are a male born in 2001, there is a one in nine chance you will find yourself in prison in your lifetime. We see wide variations when broken down by race, with white men having a one in 17 chance of experiencing imprisonment, while black and Hispanic men have a one in three and one in six chance, respectively. Women have considerably better odds at a one in 56 chance, although the number of incarcerated women has jumped significantly over the past few decades.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of the nearly 600,000 people released from federal and state prisons every year cannot successfully transition back into our neighborhoods and communities, often swiftly returning to incarceration for new crimes. A 2018 Bureau of Justice Statistics report reinforces this dismal reality. The study examined nearly 68,000 people released from state prisons in 2005 and found that 83 percent—roughly equivalent to five out of six—were arrested again within nine years of their release.
