Recidivism stems from the everlasting link that one has within the Criminal Justice System after being incarcerated. The state of incarceration that a person is subdued to is the idea that punishment will “fix” them after they have allegedly committed a crime. Punishment for crimes has been in effect since biblical times and has evolved over time.
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Earlier ideas of punishment from before the Common Era include stoning, crucifixion, hanging, and beheading. While these forms of punishment are very serious, keeping people detained and locked was also a way of deterring crime, keeping people in fear, and also punishing those who commit crimes. These people would then be freed and continue to do what they know best: committing crimes. This release into society without being properly reintegrated introduces recidivism as a result of ineffective punishment.
Because the U.S. was not founded until 1776, much of prison history is on a global scale. In 1717, in an attempt to keep Great Britain's troublemakers away, the British Parliament passed the Transportation Act which created a new form of criminal punishment. The act put in a system for criminals to be transported to American colonies for indentured servitude rather than lingering in the streets causing more problems within society.
In 1891, the United States established the Federal Prison System. This is the first time that history is made in regards to how the federal government oversees crime.
Nowadays, the punishment that alleged criminals faced back then would be referred to as capital punishment, or the death penalty. In America, capital punishment is in place for the country'ss most harmful offenders. While the number of offenders who receive the death penalty has decreased over the years, it is still in place in America.
Because recidivism is measured over long periods of time due to offender sentencing, the history and research of recidivism itself does not go so far back in history.
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