Event- and Offender-Based Recidivism Methodology Using the National Corrections Reporting Program

• NCJ Number: 250749
• Date Published: February 2019
• Author(s): William Rhodes; Garald Gaes; Christopher Cutler; Ryan King; Jeremy Luallen; Tom Rich; Michael Shively; Joshua Markman
• Length: 34 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2010-BJ-CX-K067; 2015-R2-CX-K135
• Agencies: BJS-Sponsored

Annotation

This Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) funded report presents a new methodology using National Corrections Reporting Program (NCRP) data to produce return-to-prison recidivism estimates.

Abstract

This report presents a new methodology using National Corrections Reporting Program (NCRP) data to produce return-to-prison recidivism estimates. This offender-based methodology uses longitudinal data to estimate recidivism and produces estimates of offenders released over long periods rather than specific release cohorts. Though each type of recidivism methodology is suited to answer different criminal justice questions, scholars formerly relied on the event-based approach alone. This report discusses how to produce offender-based recidivism estimates and the circumstances in which offender-based estimates are more appropriate, based on the type of policy or research question.