Page 1 of 13
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/index.php/JSMaP
e-ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 01 Issue 11
December 2015
Available online: http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/ P a g e | 1
An Aetiological Study of Criminal Recidivism in Nigeria
Ugwuoke Kelvin Abuchi
Maximum Security Prison Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria
Ugwukev11@gmail.com
Abstract
Recidivism is generally used for describing
repetitious criminal activity, and a recidivist
offender is an individual who engages in
such activity. Every year, a large number of
prisoners are released from prisons in
Nigeria. A large chunk of these released
persons return to prison before two years.
Hence, this study investigates the etiological
factors of recidivism in Nigeria. The study
concentrates on the causes of recidivism as
it relates to the lapses in the Nigerian prison
circle. The rehabilitative model in the
Nigerian prison system is faulty, therefore
attempt to equip prisoners with the
necessary skills in order to try to re- integrate society and consequently prevent
recidivism, are not efficient and sufficient.
Some of the obstacles to successful re- integration in Nigeria arise from the lapses
in the Nigerian prison system, such as the
poor rehabilitation model. There have been
no or few rigorous studies done on the
rehabilitation model in Nigeria; hence this
study. The causes of recidivism as it relates
to the lapses in the Nigeria prison system
were discussed and remedies to reduce it
were rendered.
Key Words: Recidivism, recidivist,
rehabilitation, prison, causes, aetiology,
crime
Introduction
The major mandates of the Nigerian Prisons
Service is the safe custody of the legally
interned; apart from that, it is to ensure
that the legally interned are reformed,
rehabilitated and effectively reintegrated
back to the society. The major failure of the
Nigerian prison system is the poor
reintegration of released inmates into the
society. The Nigerian Prisons Service, being
the department of the federal government
responsible for the management of prisons
in Nigeria, has failed in this regards. This is
as a result of the neglect of the punitive
system, poor funding, lack of professionals
Page 2 of 13
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/index.php/JSMaP
e-ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 01 Issue 11
December 2015
Available online: http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/ P a g e | 2
in various segments of the prison, and
numerous other problems bugging down
the prison system in Nigeria. These
problems have translated to poor
rehabilitation, reformation and
resettlement of the legally interned. As a
result, ex-prisoners keep finding their ways
to prison again and again.
According to Ahmed and Ahmad (2015), the
re-integration of the released inmates into
the society from the prison is a challenge to
almost all societies globally and breeds the
phenomenon of recidivism. This is because
the rate of recidivism of a particular
jurisdiction can be used to measure the
effectiveness of the prison’s rehabilitation
model. Therefore, a high recidivist rate
translates to poor efficiency of the
rehabilitation model; conversely, a low
recidivist rate translates to high efficiency
of the rehabilitation model.
Defining Recidivism
There has been ambiguity in the definition
and measurement of recidivism. Recidivism
can simply be defined as reoffending. In
broad terms, it is defined as reengaging in
criminal behavior after been punished or
rehabilitated for a previous crime
(Elderbroon & King, 2014). According to
Payne (2007) recidivism refers to
repetitious criminal activity and is
synonymous with terms such as “repeat
offending” and “re-offending”. It is
normally determined as a rate or
percentage of prisoners released in a
particular jurisdiction in a particular year
who meet certain criteria like getting a new
conviction in a defined amount of time
(Ruggero, Dougherty and Klofas, 2015).
Recidivism can be measured in diverse ways
as there is no specific measure of it. These
methods of measuring recidivism have
different criteria for labeling a person as a
recidivist. The widely used measure of
labelling one a recidivist is if the person
returns to prison within a given span of
time usually, two or three years (Ruggero et
al., 2015).
Reconviction, re-incarceration,
imprisonment, re-arrest, and re- arraignment are other measures of labelling
a person a recidivist. Reconviction can be
defined as a situation where a court
determines the individual has committed a
Page 3 of 13
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/index.php/JSMaP
e-ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 01 Issue 11
December 2015
Available online: http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/ P a g e | 3
new crime, with or without imprisonment
(Ruggero et al., 2015). Re-incarceration can
be defined as an arrest that resulted in the
person been sent to prison or jail.
Imprisonment is defined as an arrest
resulting in a prison sentence (Cooper,
Durose, & Snyder, 2014). Re-arrest
recidivism is only used when there is no
conviction disposition information available,
as an arrest does not yet mean that a
person has been found guilty of a new
crime or violation. Finally, re-arraignment is
defined as any court appearances within
the criminal court system (LoBuglio &
Lyman, 2006).
The Prevalence of Recidivism
Globally, recidivism has become a very
serious challenge to communities, societies
and governments. Report has it that
recidivism among released prisoners in 30
American states is high. In a study carried
out by Durose, Cooper and Snyder (2014) in
the United States of America, it was found
out that over 67.8% of the 404,638
prisoners released in 2005 were re-arrested
within 3 years while 76. 6% were arrested
within five years. In Norway, it was
discovered that recidivism rate ranged from
14% to 42% depending on whether the
sample included arrested, convicted or
imprisoned (Anderson and Skardhamar,
2014); while in Sweden, a 2-year
reconviction rate amongst prisoners was
43% (Graunbol, Kielstrup, Muiluvuori, Tyni
and Baldursson, 2010). England and Wales
recorded a recidivism rate of 59% (Ministry
of Justice, 2012).
According to Osayi (2013), recidivism has
increased tremendously in Sub-Saharan
Africa, and also has become a major social
problem affecting the society,
governments, multinationals, humanitarian
organisations the world over. Abrifor, Atere
and Muoghalu (2012) posits that recidivism
has become very high and a common
phenomenon among Nigerian subjects,
both the male and female prisoners in the
Nigerian prison custody. Soyombo (2009) in
his study found out that the prevalence rate
of criminal recidivism in Nigeria in 2005 was
37.3%. This statistic is high comparing it
with other countries which have less than
10 percent. In 2010, Abrifor, et al., (2012)
found out that the estimated prevalence of
recidivism in Nigeria prisons was 52.4%. It
