The aim of the study was to explore and describe causes of re-offending and the management’s perspective of the effectiveness of programmes being implemented at Nerina One Stop Youth Justice Centre in dealing with re-offenders. Youth re-offending involves breaking of the law and crime. Offending if repeated then develops to be re-offending which is the breaking of the law more than once and this is a dilemma in South Africa as the increase of crime is a challenging issue. A qualitative approach was utilized following an exploratory, descriptive research design as the researcher sought to understand the perspective of the managers at Nerina regarding causes of re-offending and the effectiveness of the intervention programmes aimed at addressing this phenomenon. The researcher conducted face to face interviews with the mangers at Nerina One Stop Youth Justice Centre. For the purpose of this study the population was the total complement of the management staff at the One Stop Youth Justice Centre, this included the personnel of the departments of Justice, Social Development, and South African Police Service who are all involved in rendering services at Nerina. The method of data collection was one on one semi structured interviews and data analysis undertaken according to the steps for qualitative data analysis as proposed by Tesch in Creswell (1994). Guba’s model (Krefting, 1991) was employed for assessing the trustworthiness of the qualitative data. Some of the important findings included the causes of re-offending which included loss of parents, alcohol and drug abuse, inadequate parent role, role of peers and inadequate facilities. Further more from the study suggestions for improving programmes at the One Stop Youth Justice Center were discussed and these include involvement of community, involve more role players, training staff and increasing staff.

No description available.

<p>Despite the unpleasant living conditions in prison, recidivism seems to be an uncontrollable phenomenon. It is evident that prison life is harsh with inmates having to sleep on the floors due to overpopulation, frequently subjected to physical and sexual abuse, and overpopulation leading to numerous communicable diseases, such as tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections. Prison should therefore, be the least favourable ecosystem in which to be incorporated. However, research indicates that thousands of youth return to prison habitually. This study aimed to explore juvenile inmates perceptions of their return to prison. Although recidivism is often measured in terms of the success of rehabilitation programmes, this study focused on eliciting socio-economic factors influencing recidivism.</p>

The correctional experience of adult offenders has largely been ignored in comparison to youth and adolescent offenders in the correctional literature and even more so in terms of repeated offending behaviour. The perspective that self-esteem is also considered an important behavioural motivator and outcome of life experiences is reflected in the high amount of inclusion it enjoys as a treatment outcome in numerous correctional rehabilitation programmes. However, the dearth of research on the level of self-esteem of repeat offenders internationally and in the South African context does not reflect the importance of this relationship and with a 95% recidivism rate in South African prisons one can understand the need for investigation into this phenomenon. Descriptive, comparative and explanatory analyses were conducted using the self-concept theory of Carl Rogers to guide the research. A purposive sample of 73 male repeat offenders from correctional centres in the Zululand area of the KwaZulu-Natal province were included in the study. Self-esteem was assessed through the use of the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory (Adult Form) and relative theoretical and empirical perspectives were utilised in the development of a questionnaire used to quantitatively assess multiple variables related to self-esteem and repeat offending behaviour. The level of self-esteem was therefore assessed in terms of the type of offence/s committed by the participants and in relation to a number of demographic (age, education, marital status, number of children and childhood socioeconomic status), psychosocial (parental closeness, parental availability, need for acceptance, familial abuse and treatment by community upon release) and correctional (exposure to correctional environment, experience of victimisation inside the correctional facility, visitations, conditions of the correctional centres and programme participation) variables. Inferential (t-tests, ANOVA and correlations) and descriptive (means, standard deviations and frequency distributions) statistical analyses were utilised to compare the self-esteem scores of the participants and provide a general description of the characteristics of the sample respectively. The reliability of the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory (Adult Form) was also assessed producing a Cronbach alpha of .69 indicating that it was a reliable measure of self-esteem in the South African correctional context. The results indicated that the self-esteem scores of South African repeat offenders varied significantly in terms of offence type with aggressive offenders showing significantly higher levels of self-esteem than sexual, economic, narcotic and “other” offenders. Participants from the remaining offending categories did not show significant differences in self-esteem between one another. Demographic variables (age, education, marital status, number of children and childhood socioeconomic status) were not found to have a significant effect on self-esteem scores. Psychosocial variables related to familial relations (parental closeness and parental availability) were not found to be significantly different despite clear patterns emerging indicating an increase in self-esteem when parental bonds were strong and parents were perceived as available during childhood. The analysis of data related to the need for acceptance by friends and family members indicated that despite the repeated offending nature of the sample that there was still a degree of acceptance with conventional norms and values. Self-esteem was also seen to improve with perceptions of community support and fairness of treatment by community upon release. Experiences of abuse prior to incarceration and victimisation within the correctional facility were seen to negatively affect self-esteem however time and context related variables were determined to play a mediating role due to the increased effect witnessed for experiences that were more recent. Further correctional variables analysed showed increases in self-esteem in terms of prolonged exposure to the correctional environment, and increase in the frequency of visitations and positive perceptions of satisfaction with the conditions in the correctional centres. Programme participation was was however found to have no significant effect on self-esteem. Recommendations formulated for future research included the need for a longitudinal research design and the incorporation of contextual data in the form of non-offending control groups for the establishment of cultural norms and values through the use of qualitative interviews. The generally negative life experiences of repeat offenders were concluded to increase the need for the use of psychological defences and the creation of an increasingly false reality in an attempt to maintain some form of psychological consistency. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

<p>Despite the unpleasant living conditions in prison, recidivism seems to be an uncontrollable phenomenon. It is evident that prison life is harsh with inmates having to sleep on the floors due to overpopulation, frequently subjected to physical and sexual abuse, and overpopulation leading to numerous communicable diseases, such as tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections. Prison should therefore, be the least favourable ecosystem in which to be incorporated. However, research indicates that thousands of youth return to prison habitually. This study aimed to explore juvenile inmates perceptions of their return to prison. Although recidivism is often measured in terms of the success of rehabilitation programmes, this study focused on eliciting socio-economic factors influencing recidivism.</p>

No description available.

This thesis examines privatization of local level corrections in southern California.

South Africa is one of the countries that have a high rate of recidivism, especially amongst adult male 1offenders; this is evident in the large numbers flocking into the prisons. The high rate of recidivism is a serious problem in that it not only affects the offender and his immediate family, but also other vulnerable groups in society, as well as the government. The study intended to uncover various factors which contribute to this recidivism, as a phenomenon; South Africa has a notable dearth of research on factors contributing to recidivism. Unavailability of scientific research data has a negative impact on the fight against recidivism because it is empirical findings that can inform appropriate efficient and effective remedies to the challenge of recidivism. This qualitative study utilised explorative, contextual, phenomenological and descriptive research designs with the ecological system theory as a framework. Data were collected by means of semi-structured, face-to-face interviews with adult males who have re-offended after being reintegrated with their families. Data analysis was guided by thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2013:175) while Lincoln & Guba’s model in Bryman (2012:392) was employed for data verification. Ethical considerations were upheld throughout this study. / Social Work / M.A. (Social Work)

A multi-regression analysis was performed utilizing the variables, age, ethnicity, criminal background, and facets of treatment, but differentiated between the rapist and pedophile, examining the variance of recidivism.

Thesis( M. A. ( Criminology and Criminal Justice)) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / The VOM and FGC programmes have become valuable instruments for the rehabilitation of offenders. These programmes bring crime victims and offenders together to reach agreements for restitution and community healing. Moreover, the NICRO, a Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) in Polokwane, Limpopo Province, offers these programmes to offenders and their victims. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of VOM and FGC programmes on recidivism in Polokwane Municipality, Limpopo Province. The study sought to identify factors contributing to recidivism in Limpopo Province, to explore associated challenges in response to recidivism by the local NICRO and to determine strategies employed by NICRO in response to recidivism in the province. The qualitative research approach was used in the study. This study further assumed a phenomenological design, which aims to describe, understand and interpret the meaning that participants give to their everyday life. The non-probability sampling technique was used to select participants of the study. One-on-one semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from adult male and female offenders and their family members who participated in VOM and FGC programmes. Data was also collected using one-on-one semi structured interviews from Social Workers at NICRO. Based on the transcribed data, themes were extracted and analysed using Thematic Contents Analysis (TCA). This allowed for an all-inclusive view to be gained of participants' opinions about insights into the topic. The design of the questionnaire was based on the objectives of the study. This study established that there are factors that contribute to reoffending and challenges in response to recidivism. The findings of the study showed that factors such as unemployment and substance abuse can lead to reoffending. The study recommended that these programmes should address the criminogenic needs of offenders as a measure to respond to recidivism. It has been discovered that VOM and FGC programmes help many offenders to acknowledge and understand the impact of the crime committed to parties.