NCJ Number
80447
Journal
British Journal of Criminology Volume: 21 Issue: 4 Dated: (October 1981) Pages: 357-360
Date Published
1981
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Findings are presented from a British study that examined the reconviction rates of 2,069 adult males after they completed different sentences.
Abstract
Data were obtained from the Phillpotts-Lancucki sample, which consisted of one in approximately every six persons recorded in the Home Office's Offenders' Index as having been convicted of a standard list offense in January 1971 (personal violence, sexual offenses, burglary or robbery, theft or dishonest handling, fraud or forgery, and criminal damage). Data on reconvictions covered the 6 years following the January 1971 conviction. Information on previous convictions incurred after 1962 was also used. A log-linear analysis confirmed that the type of sentence was associated with a difference in reconviction rates and that the number of previous convictions was even more strongly associated with reconvictions. In the case of first offenders, with an overall reconviction rate of 21 precent, the association between choice of sentence and likelihood of reconviction was strongest. For first offenders, reconvictions after probation and suspended sentences were markedly more numerous than was expected. They were worse than the reconviction rates for fines for first offenders, which in turn were worse than the rates for imprisonment. For offenders with one to four previous convictions, the reconviction rate was 90 percent for discharges, 61 percent for fines, 54 percent for probation, 73 percent for suspended sentences, and 69 percent for imprisonment. Subjects with five or more previous convictions had reconviction rates from 85 to 90 percent for all types of sentences. Limitations of the study are discussed. Six footnotes and four references are provided. Tabular data are included.