ReviewJournal of criminal justice
Criminal recidivism rates globally: A 6-year systematic review update.
Review in Journal of criminal justice. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 47 citations in OpenAlex.
- Examining Benchmarks of Sexual Recidivism Rates for Short, Moderate, and Long-Term Follow-Up Periods: A Meta-Analysis of Canadian and American Studies.Trauma, violence & abuse · 2026Pooled it
- Psychosocial determinants of recidivism risk among incarcerated individuals with a history of substance use: A systematic review.PloS one · 2025Pooled it
- Public Perception of Recidivism Risk among Released Correctional Inmates in Japan.International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology · 2026Article
- "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late:" Exploring the Role of the Criminal Justice System Within the Narratives of Men Convicted of Sexual Recidivism in Norway and North America.Sexual offending (Trier, Germany) · 2025Article
- Mathematical modeling and analysis of the co-dynamics of crime and drug abuse.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Neuropsychological assessment of aggressive offenders: a Delphi consensus study.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Objectives: Previous work has shown that direct comparison of recidivism rates between jurisdictions without accounting for potential sources of their variation can be misleading. We aimed to systemically review data on recidivism rate internationally and explore sources of between-country variation. Methods: We reviewed recidivism rates in individuals released from prison and given community sentences. We systematically searched peer-reviewed and gray literature focusing on publications since a systematic review in mid-2019. We extracted data on reoffending, reimprisonment, and re-arrests. To examine the association between index offences and recidivism rates, we calculated risk ratios. We used meta-regression to estimate the association between recidivism in released prisoners and country-level variables. We also summarised reported effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on recidivism rates. Results: Recidivism data were found for 33 countries. Released prisoners had 2-year reconviction rates between 18% and 55%, while individuals given community sentences had rates between 10% and 47%. Recidivism rates varied based on proportions of index offences. Country-level factors like homicide, robbery, and imprisonment rates were associated with prisoner recidivism. Lower rates during COVID-19 were linked to disruptions in criminal justice processes, reduced prison populations, and fewer crime opportunities. Conclusions: Interpreting recidivism rates requires considering individual and country-level factors. Transparent reporting of these factors is needed.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.