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African Americans and Recidivism


With regard to the United States incarceration rate, African Americans represent only about 13 percent of the United States population, yet account for approximately half the prison population as well as ex-offenders once released from prison. As compared to whites, African Americans are incarcerated 6.4 times higher for violent offenses, 4.4 times higher for property offenses and 9.4 times higher for drug offenses.

African Americans comprise a majority of the prison reentry population, yet few studies have been aimed at studying recidivism among this population. Recidivism is highest amongst those under the age of 18 who are male and African American, and African Americans have significantly higher levels of recidivism as compared to Caucasians.

The sheer number of ex-inmates exiting prison into the community is significant, however, chances of recidivism are low for those who avoid contact with the law for at least three years after release. What communities African American ex-inmates are released into plays a part in their likelihood to re-offend; communities that have high racial inequality increases the risk of African American recidivism as they are denied equal access to “employers, health care services, and other institutions that can facilitate a law-abiding reentry into society”. Employment can also reduce recidivism; however, for African American ex-inmates, finding employment, which can be difficult prior to incarceration, becomes increasingly so after incarceration.

African Americans, Employment and Recidivism
Most research regarding recidivism indicates that those ex-inmates that obtain employment after release from prison tend to have lower rates of recidivism. In one study, it was found that even if marginal employment, especially for ex-inmates over the age of 26, is offered to ex-inmates, those ex-inmates are less likely to commit crime than their counterparts. Another study found that ex-inmates were less likely to re-offend if they found and maintained stable employment throughout their first year of parole. Although research is clear that obtaining employment can reduce recidivism, one must closely examine the ability of ex-inmates to obtain employment once released from prison.

African Americans are disproportionately represented in the American prison system; as stated previously, they represent approximately half the prison population. Of this population, many enter into the prison system with less than a high school diploma. The lack of education makes ex-inmates qualify for low-skill, low-wage employment. In addition to lack of education, many inmates report a difficulty in finding employment prior to incarceration. If an ex-inmate served a long prison sentence, they have lost an opportunity to gain work experience or network with potential job employers. Because of this, employers and agencies that assist with employment believe that ex-inmates cannot obtain or maintain employment. Furthermore, some employers are not able, or willing, to hire ex-inmates due to their criminal histories.

For African American ex-inmates, their race is an added barrier to obtaining employment after release. According to one study, African Americans are more likely to re-offend because employment opportunities are not as available in the communities they return to in relation to Caucasians.

Reducing Recidivism Among African Americans
A cultural re-grounding of African Americans is important to improve self-esteem and help develop a sense of community. Culturally specific programs and services that focus on characteristics that include the target population values, beliefs, and styles of problem solving may be beneficial in reducing recidivism among African American inmates; programs involving social skills training and social problem solving could also be effective.

Research shows that treatment effectiveness should include cognitive-behavioral and social learning techniques of modeling, role playing, reinforcement, extinction, resource provision, concrete verbal suggestions (symbolic modeling, giving reasons, prompting) and cognitive restructuring; the effectiveness of the intervention incorporates a relapse prevention element. Relapse prevention is a cognitive-behavioral approach to self-management that focuses on teaching alternate responses to high-risk situations.

Several theories suggest that access to low-skill employment among parolees is likely to have favorable outcomes, at least over the short term, by strengthening internal and external social controls that constrain behavior toward legal employment. Any legal employment upon release from prison may help to tip the balance of economic choice toward not needing to engage in criminal activity. The importance of employment as a turning point is that it enhances attachment and commitment to mainstream individuals and pursuits. From that perspective, ex-inmates are constrained from criminal acts because they are more likely to weigh the risk of severing social ties prior to engaging in illegal behavior and opt to refuse to engage in criminal activity.

Addressing racial inequality is also a way to reduce recidivism among African-American ex-inmates. The ability of African Americans ex-inmates to not re-offend is not based solely on their individual characteristics and one must closely examine the social environment in which they are released; high recidivism among African American ex-inmates is the price society pays for racial inequality.