NCJ Number
70510
Date Published
1977
Length
35 pages
Annotation
Results of a followup investigation to trace the further development of recidivists previously studied by the Polish National Institute for Criminology and Criminalistics are summarized.
Abstract
New data are taken from official reports, forensic files, and reports of schools, employers, and prisons. Findings indicate that there are essential differences in recidivist careers which depend on the age at which the first crimes were committed. On the whole, offenders convicted of either aggressive or nonaggressive offenses are likely to be recidivists. Certain groups of recidivists may change the type of crime that they commit, retaining or losing their aggressiveness. Recidivists whose criminality is either involved in criminal activities because of one key experience, or occasional, (i.e., participating only sporadically in criminal activities), can be rehabilitated. The real habitual criminal plans his crimes actively and lives exclusively from his ill-gotten gains. His life style becomes inalterably fixed after five or six prison terms. An Institute study of 100 recidivists who committed property crimes attributes their inability to live normally to such personality characteristics as the fear of criticism, impulsiveness, social inhibition, projective evasion, and the desire to lead a conflict-free life without human beings and emotions. Early imprisonment is a decisive determinant in the development of a recidivist career. Young inmates are so frustrated and angry that they cannot adjust to prison rules. Their personalities are damaged by a prison system without rewards for good behavior. Aggressive criminals over 19 years old exhibit a characteristic lack of guilt and self-criticism. Research is now underway to discover personality aspects of criminal aggression. --in English