Pubdate: Sun, 30 Sep 2007
Source: Dispatch, The (Moline, IL)
Copyright: 2007 Moline Dispatch Publishing Company, L.L.C.
Contact:  http://www.qconline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1306
Author: Dawn Neuses

RECIDIVISM RATE REACHES RECORD IN ILLINOIS

The odds are stacked against former prisoners the  minute they leave
prison.

It can be a struggle to integrate back into society.  More than half
of the 42,000 prisoners who left  Illinois detention facilities last
year will be back  behind bars within three years.

The state's recidivism rate of 54.6 percent is  calculated on a
three-year basis and reflects inmates  who left prison in 2001 and
were back by 2004.

It's the state's highest rate ever, according to the  Illinois
Criminal Justice Authority and Illinois  Department of Corrections.
Since 1985, when it was 39.1  percent, the rate has steadily increased.

Nationwide in 2005, 38 percent of all parole discharges  returned to
jail and 11 percent fled the justice  system, according to the Bureau
of Justice Statistics.

David Olson, a criminal justice professor at Loyola  University in
Chicago who has studied recidivism, said  three factors affect it --
characteristics of the  prison population, the state's parole policy
and the  state's policing strategies.

"If the characteristics of the prison population change  -- substance
abuse history, criminal history, marital  status -- it can influence
recidivism rates. If the  population is getting younger and younger,
that could  increase the recidivism rate," he said.

In the 1990s, the state kept a heavy hand on parolees.  If one was
late for an appointment, it was considered a  violation and the
parolee was sent back to prison.  Today, that isn't the case, Mr.
Olson said. Parole  officers are a bit more lenient.

"The third thing is beyond the control of the prison  system," he
said. "If police say, 'We are going to  crack down on certain acts'...
We saw more of an effect  of that in the late 1980s as a result of the
increase  in drug enforcement."

Ex-prisoners face several barriers when released. It  can be difficult
to get a job because their prison  information is available to
employers, Mr. Olson said.

"People who go to prison have a long history and a  wide-array of
deficiencies, in terms of educational  levels, exposure to violence,
physical abuse. We are  very naive if we think a year in prison will
undo  decades of deficiencies," he said.

Housing also is an issue, as many ex-prisoners have  nowhere to go,
Mr. Olson said.

"The argument has always been, 'What do you expect when  you take
someone out of a bad environment, put them in  prison, then put them
back in the environment from  which they came.' There are not a whole
lot of options  for them. Communities lack the capacity to reintegrate
  people coming out of prison."

Inmates are exposed to little rehabilitation in prison,  he said.
"Most people think the punishment should  change their behavior."

Historically, mental health and drug abuse issues  aren't addressed.
"It's constantly a funding battle,"  Mr. Olson said, explaining that
people question why  prisoners should have vocational training and
drug  rehabilitation when their own children can't get it for  free.

In 2004, Gov. Rod Blagojevich reopened the Sheridan  prison, which
focuses on drug treatment and other  programs to help with community
re-entry. It has become  a national model and has cut recidivism rates
among  those participating by 66 percent, according to the  Illinois
Government News Network.

But Mr. Olson said lack of funding prevents expanding  the program to
other state detention centers.

There are the successes, Mr. Olson said, noting that  about 45 percent
of prisoners released from Illinois  prisons do not re-offend.

"One of the largest predictors of recidivism is some  sort of
transforming experience," he said, for instance  a parent deciding
they don't want their child to go  down the same road.
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