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ABSTRACT
The reintegration of ex-offenders into the community has emerged as a key concern of the criminal justice system as prison populations have increased globally. High recidivism rates indicate that prisons have not adequately prepared many prisoners for life after prisons. There are three issues this article explores: first, to unpack the theoretical and methodological issues in understanding the nebulous concept of ‘recidivism’; second, to provide a critique of the ‘risks–needs–responsivity’ model which has formed the basis of prison rehabilitation; and third, to suggest ways to mitigate the effects of institutionalisation to achieve positive rehabilitation and reintegration outcomes.
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Notes on contributors
Narayanan Ganapathy
Narayanan Ganapathy is an Associate Professor at the Department of Sociology, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of Singapore. His teaching and research areas are sociology of crime and criminal justice, criminal subcultures and prison gangs, policing, and prisoner reintegration.