NCJ Number
73313
Date Published
1980
Length
27 pages
Annotation
This Oregon Law Enforcement Council (OLEC) report presents the rearrest and conviction rates of a group of offenders who had been followed through the Oregon criminal justice system from July 1, 1975 to June 30, 1976.
Abstract
For this report, records of each of the 966 offenders were again examined for subsequent arrests and convictions. Records from July 1, 1975, to August 1978 were included. Due to data limitations, a review of other research on recidivism was made to determine if the major findings could be confirmed by similar studies. Two studies examined were from the Institute for Law and Social Research (INSLAW) and from the Iowa Statistical Analysis Center. Of the offenders in the study sample, 35 percent were rearrested within the 2-3 year time period; 25 percent were rearrested and convicted. One-fourth of those rearrested accounted for 75 percent of all subsequent charges. Most subsequent arrests occur within 1 year and the vast majority within 2 years. At the end of 1 year, 22 percent of the OLEC study sample had been rearrested; at the end of 2 years, 32 percent had been rearrested. There was no general pattern of crime specialization found among those rearrested in this study. While there was no tendency to recommit exactly the same crime, there was some tendency to recommit similar types of crimes. Those most likely to be rearrested were younger offenders (21 and under) who were originally arrested for a Part I property crime, particularly burglary and motor vehicle theft. Moreover, all three studies found a defendant's teen age to be the highest predictor of all variables for recidivism measures. Conviction rates for initial arrest in the first and second subsequent arrests were remarkably similar despite the fact the charges were different. For all cases, the percent of persons convicted was about 52-56 percent and the percent incarcerated was about 28 percent. Although only 55 percent were convicted on their first subsequent arrest, only 7 percent continued to be rearrested without conviction. If resources for prosecution and corrections are limited, the most effective use would be to focus on the high risk offender. Since the highest number of recidivists are rearrested within the first 4 months, and most within 1 year, early concentration of resources is advised. Special enforcement or prosecution programs which focus on certain classes of offenders should avoid target groups that are classified by single crime categories. Tabular data are provided. (Author abstract modified).