Reincarceration implies second or subsequent imprisonment of an offender upon pleading guilty. According to the research outcomes from the study by Kirk (2012), the rate of parolees’ reincarceration declined by 4% over a period of three years, a situation which could be upheld if the research was conducted over a span of ten years. My belief that the reincarceration rates would decline over the ten years is based on the power of residential change as a turning point for all offenders. Kirk (2012) draws from the conclusions by Sampson and Laub that institutional and structural turning points separate the past from the present, alter the structure of the routine activities, and facilitate identity transformation. As long as the parolees are substantially isolated from their initial residences, they will knife-off from their previous criminal ways of life. Such a separation will also play a critical role in separating them from their criminal partners in their initial residences; thus creating a firm ground for them to undergo tremendous identity transformation. Identity transformation will thus persist in the individuals such that their desire to engage in such criminal activities is inexistent. The direct outcome of the declining desires or intents to engage in crime will, possibly, lead to a further decline in the rates of reincarceration over an extended period.
Overall, if the same research is conducted over a period of ten years, the rates of reincarceration will further go down below the 4% recorded in three years. The extended period would play a critical role in separating the former offenders from their crime or violent trigger factors and induce them to new environments that will create a favorable ground for identity transformation, thus reducing the chances for repeat offenders and reincarceration.
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The prevalence of the parolees to reincarceration in any society is triggered by numerous life course factors, among them the absence of sound policies or measures to assist the parolees to desist from their former criminal ways. As such, various policies can be put in place to ensure that the reincarceration rates are minimal. For instance, the establishment of compulsory community guidance and counseling centers for all ex-convicts to ensure that they are re-inducted into the society a fresh by teaching them the adverse effects of criminal behaviors. Guidance and counseling will be successful in reducing reincarceration since it enables the parolees to knife-off from their former habits and integrates them to the community with a new image; thus, the community members will even see the reformed side of the parolee. Moreover, economic and social empowerment of the parolee is another policy that should be closely knit with the guidance and counseling to ensure that the parolees are busy and have reliable sources of income. The success of the economic and social empowerment in reducing the rates of reincarceration is founded on the fact that the parolees will not have time for their criminal activities as their new jobs will consume their time and energy, and their free time will be best-used for resting. Moreover, economic empowerment such as employment will separate the parolees from their crime partners, thus reducing the chances for subsequent offenses.
Overall, the policies are critical to the reduction of reincarceration rates because they aid the parolees to integrate into the community as new members and also knife-off from their former criminal habits. The policies will also play a fundamental role in ensuring that the parolee understands the negative aspect of crime and open their eyes to other numerous opportunities that make them desist from crime and violence.
References
Kirk, D.S. (2012). Residential change as a turning point in the life course of crime:
Desistance or temporary cessation? Criminology, 50(2), 329–358. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.2011.00262.x
