Recidivism External and Internal Factors
Recidivism is the tendency of the offenders to reoffend, once they are through with their term, and are back in the society. This effect has elicited a lot of controversy and divided opinion, between those advocating for longer sentences in the interest of public safety, and those advocating for shorter sentences with the belief that, the longer sentence will not reduce recidivism rate. This research paper aims to summarize the topic of recidivism, as seen through the three research methods of Quantitative, Qualitative and Mixed methods and also their strengths and weaknesses. Studies done indicate that, the effect of sentencing of an offender (as compared to other non sentencing punishment) and the length of the sentence on recidivism is complex and most prone to be offender specific (Bailey, 2007) Three research methods can be used to get credible information and analysis on the rate, effects and reasons for recidivism. They include; Quantitative, Qualitative and mixed methods of research.