Racial and Ethnic Recidivism Risks

Abstract

Despite a large and rapidly growing Hispanic population in the United States, few researchers have attempted to examine what happens to Hispanic offenders once they have been released from criminal justice control. The present study helps fill this gap by examining differences in the likelihood of recidivism between White, Black, and Hispanic prison releasees using three different recidivism measures: rearrest, reconviction, and reincarceration. The authors use Bureau of Justice Statistics data that track a cohort of offenders for 3 years after their release in 1994 from state and federal prisons. Overall, the study findings show that White releasees have the lowest levels of recidivism and Black releasees have the highest levels of recidivism, net of important legal factors associated with recidivism risk; Hispanic recidivism levels are between those of White and Black releasees. Any conclusions drawn about the relative recidivism risk of Hispanic releasees vis-à-vis Black and White releasees must, however, consider how recidivism is measured. The study finds that Hispanic rearrest and reconviction levels more closely mirror those of Whites, but Hispanic reincarceration levels are more similar to those of Blacks. The authors discuss these findings in light of a growing body of research suggesting that Hispanic defendants may face more punitive outcomes relative to similarly situated White (and even Black) defendants at various stages of the criminal case process because they are perceived as more blameworthy and a greater threat to public safety than other defendants.