Factors influencing the occurrence of criminal recividism

• Author: Gabriel Tica
• Position: Oradea Pentitentiary
• Pages: 290-298

FACTORS INFLUENCING THE OCCURRENCE OF CRIMINAL

RECIVIDISM

Candidate to Ph.D Ţica Gabriel

Oradea Pentitentiary

tica_gabi@yahoo.com

Abstract: The presence of a relatively large segment of recidivist prison population,

characterized by the repetition of criminal acts with negative consequences upon the entire

spectrum of social life (for victims, inmates and the society at large) imperatively requires a

scientific approach to factors that jointly contribute to the perpetuation of such undesirable

situations for society. This paper aims to identify the social factors that contribute to the existence

of criminal recidivism, in order to emphasize the mechanisms of the most severe form of legal non-

responsibility.

Key words: recidivism, social exclusion, prison, social re-integration

Introduction

Criminal liability is reflected by the extent to which the citizens of each state accept and

respect penal juridical norms. The most dangerous form of penal juridical non-responsibility is the

recurrence of criminal acts and is revealed by the dimensions of phenomena such as criminal

recidivism. The task of preventing repetitive anti-social forms of behaviour must be a constant

concern for the society at large and particularly for specialists activating within the social and the

legal domains. In this respect, the prevention and the treatment of this type of delinquency should

represent priorities for actions associated with the social and the penal activities of the state.

The phenomenon of criminal recidivism is subordinated to the field of deviance from the

norms and values of society, being simply one of its specific manifestations. Criminal

infractionality, as well as criminal deviance, might be analysed starting from a multitude of theories

that, over time, have elaborated casual frameworks; however this paper will focus upon the possible

relationship between the forms of social exclusion and the infractional recidive, as the former might

generate the latter.

The social importance of this subject lies in the need to analyze and understand the

dynamics of recidivism as a phenomenon that: endangers the social order, since recidivists

repeatedly transgress juridical norms; contributes to the proliferation of negative emotions such as

fear and insecurity among people, given the antisocial potential of recidivists; involves significant

costs allocated to the prison system; presents a high incidence among inmates.

The level of common knowledge is insufficient for addressing a phenomenon that seriously

threatens the social order and consequently a scientific approach, rigorous especially from a

theoretical and methodological point of view, is required, since the phenomenon referred to above is

characterized by complexity, diversity and specificity. It is worth mentioning here that the

explanatory paradigms characterizing the sociology of deviance (the theory of social

disorganization, the theory of anomie, the theory of cultural transmission, the functionalist

conception, the theory of social control, the paradigm of conflict and the labelling theory) have

searched for and elaborated answers to delinquency causes, but have not approached separately the

phenomenology of criminal relapse, which has a longitudinal dimension in the life of criminals.

The scientific approach to the theme is relevant for the following reasons: it refers to a

segment of the population that is difficult to investigate; the social problems confronted by liberated

inmates have not been the object of either scientific research or of special measures of social

inclusion on the part of national authorities.

The present survey aims to decipher the social factors that influence criminal relapse. In

order to investigate this field, it is necessary to understand the social characteristics of this segment