The Impact of Poor Local Government Investment on Ex-Convicts on High Recidivism Rate

Recidivism refers to the cases where the ex-convicts commit a crime again after being released from prison. The case of the former convict's being involved in crime is a significant problem that is highly multifaceted which makes it challenging to tackle (Yang, 2017). Recidivism is highly blamed on the government failure to create proper rehabilitation mechanisms to prevent former convicts from being involved in a crime which is due to economic and social reasons. Poor society acceptance of the ex-convicts has also featured as a significant influence in the growth of recidivism. The government and taxpayers incur the cost of maintaining offenders in prisons. Despite the statistics showing that crime rate and the number of prisoners has been on a decline in the United States, crimes committed by people who have been released from prison continues to increase (Davila-Centeno, 2016).

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Hypothesis

This research seeks to identify the extent to which the growth of recidivism in the United States can be linked to the inadequate government intervention programs and the shortcomings of the existing interventions in resolving the recidivism crisis in the United States. Understanding the role of government in creating programs to reintegrate former convicts in the society can help to resolve crime growth which is being committed by released prisoners.

Research Questions

To what extent is the growth of recidivism a failure of the government programs to integrate former prisoners in the communities?

What is the implication of inadequate government programs in the integration of former prisoners who have served their jail terms?

What is the impact of public assistance in reducing recidivism in the United States?

To what extent does equipping prisoners with skills while in incarceration help to reduce their potential to return to crime?

Variables

Independent Variables

The local government program that facilitate the former prisoners to get jobs.

Increasing government expenditure on prisoner rehabilitation.

Government educating the public on the importance of accepting former convicts in the community.

Dependent Variable

Recidivism: Recidivism is the dependent variable in this case because a change in any direction of the above independent variables directly affects the level of recidivism. For instance, this research will measure the impact of increased funding on the local government released prisoners reintegration programs on the level of recurrence being experienced in the state.

Conceptual Definition of Variables

Government prison reintegration programs have a significant role in reducing the overall number of former prisoners committing a crime. Former convicts commit crime after serving their prison terms mainly due to the lack of proper government intervention programs. Increasing funding on previous prisoner community integration programs can significantly reduce the number of former prisoners caught in a crime. Besides, community education on the importance of accepting former convicts into the community as well as giving them employment opportunities can significantly reduce the overall level of recidivism.

Operational Definition of Variables

The Number of Government Programs: The best intervention to reduce the rate of recidivism is through government initiated programs such as providing jobs to the former prisoners, offering rehabilitative programs and encouraging the community to accept former convicts instead of isolating them after they have served their prison time. The number of programs and government expenditure on rehabilitation programs will be used to measure government impact on the level of recidivism.

Sample Design

Population

The United States is a good case example to research the impact of government programs on recidivism. The United States has a population of 327.2 million as of 2018, and of this population, 2.2 million adults are prisoners held across different jails and prisons across the United States according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (Alper, Durose, & Markman, 2018). This is a significant number of the population compared to the entire US population. Research shows that of the released inmates, 67.8% of them are rearrested within 3 to 5 years after arrest which highlights a significant problem in the criminal justice system that should be addressed (Alper et al., 2018).

Sampling Frame

Key Jails Wardens

The Attorney General

The Federal Bureau of Prisons Director

Local Council Leaders

The Speaker in the House of Representatives

Federal Bureau of Investigations Director

The sample from the population to participate in the research as crucial information providers will be made by individuals with direct access to the information regarding the number of inmates rearrested after being freed as well as the people responsible for creating, funding and implementing the rehabilitation programs. For instance, individuals in charge of incarceration the federal criminal justice elements such as the FBI, Federal Bureau of Prisons, and the Jail wardens will be vital in providing valuable information that can be used to validate the research hypothesis and answer the research questions raised earlier.

Sample Type

The sample will involve Sample Random Sampling which consists of the selection of a group of subjects within the population by chance and every member in the sample population has an equal opportunity of being included in the research sample (Ramona, 2011). As such, this sampling method will be vital in choosing members to be included in the sample where there are multiple possibilities such as the case of local council leaders in which the research will identify only a few local councils across the United States to participate in the research.

Sample Size

The research aims at raising 500 questionnaires which will be sent across America to different officials in the criminal justice such as jail wardens, federal prison officials, local council representatives and the House of Representatives across the state. The sample size will be huge to be able to create a good representation of the United States large population which will increase the dependability on the research results. A large sample size increases the overall ability to reduce the margin of error (Kaplan, Chambers, & Glasgow, 2014). However, the large sample size will require massive financial and time commitment to deliver all the questionnaires in time and gather them to summarize key findings or common themes.

Survey Design

Mail and internet will be the primary avenues through which the questionnaire will be distributed to the research sample. Due to a large number of participants in the study, the internet and mail delivery of the questionnaire will be cost friendly and more time efficient compared to the use of other potential survey designs that are costly and time-consuming. The growth of internet access makes the use of the internet and mail the best approach to ensure that the surveys reach the recipients in time. The decision to use two survey designs is to ensure that they complement each other which will improve the overall data being collected for the research questions.

Questionnaire Items

What is the role of government in the protection and promotion of employee rights?

How effective are existing programs that seek to promote the released inmates profile?

To what extent does executive features such as education fail to provide necessary safety for young children?

What is the effect of media campaigns in the reduction of the number of people incarcerated?

Does the growth of government spending in rehabilitation programs reduce recidivism?

Have American legislators contributed in recidivism by decreasing spending in community education?

The government can do more to reduce recidivism.

The government has failed to provide protection to the society from former convicts.

Taking care of former convicts is not the responsibility of the government.

In-community rehabilitation programs can help reduce recidivism.

The law does not require the government to provide former convicts with preferential treatment.

Do states have the potential of making recidivism reduction a state priority?

Poor monitoring of former inmates in post rehabilitation period increases their potential to engage in crime.

More resources at State level can help curb the growth of Recidivism.

Poor accountability by the criminal justice officials leads to the misdiagnosis of an inmate threat level to the society once received.

Recidivism programs increases the overall cost and spending budget for the criminal justice system in the US.

Cover Letter for Mailed Questionnaire

Respondent

Address

Dear Respondent

Currently I am a student in the University of Chicago and I am conducting a research on how government can address the growing cases of recidivism. Despite the decline in crimes rates there is a significant increase in the number of former offenders released from prison in the communities. I would like to borrow your experience in the field to contribute in understanding the scope of the problem which can help to address the recidivism problem being experienced in the US today. The results of this research are aimed at informing the criminal justice system on the potential solutions for the recidivism problem. I have enclosed a questionnaire that asks you to respond to the statements and questions in relation to your experience and knowledge of recidivism in the US. It is important to know that participation in this research is voluntary and efforts will be made to protect your identity and at the same time keep the information provided confidential. Please fill the consent form attached in the questionnaire and contact information has been provided for comments and queries. I look forward in your feedback and knowledge of your experiences in the issue of recidivism. Your participation will be appreciated and valued.

Sincerely,

(Student's Name)

(Contact Information)

References

Alper, M., Durose, M. R., & Markman, J. (2018). 2018 Update on Prisoner Recidivism: A 9-Year Follow-up Period (2005-2014). US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics. Retrieved from https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/18upr9yfup0514.pdf

Davila-Centeno, M. (2016). Prison Programs to Reduce Recidivism: What is the Ideal Structure of an Inmate Reentry Program? Retrieved from https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1385&context=honorstheses

Kaplan, R. M., Chambers, D. A., & Glasgow, R. E. (2014). Big data and large sample size: a cautionary note on the potential for bias. Clinical and translational science, 7(4), 342-346. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5439816/

Ramona, S. E. (2011). Advantages and disadvantages of quantitative and qualitative information risk approaches. Chinese Business Review, 10(12). Retrieved from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/d3de/26d8ac71b1e2659b367cf1c0beab4986810d.pdf

Yang, C. S. (2017). Does Public Assistance Reduce Recidivism?. American Economic Review, 107(5), 551-55. Retrieved from http://www.law.harvard.edu/programs/olin_center/papers/pdf/Yang_920.pdf