Procedural Justice Spill-Over and Recidivism After Release From Prison

Abstract

The importance of procedural justice for reducing criminal behavior has been demonstrated in numerous criminal justice contexts. However, to date, no study has evaluated the impact of procedural justice in encounters with multiple authorities on recidivism. Using longitudinal data from the Prison Project, this study examines the associations between perceptions of prison staff procedural justice, probation officer procedural justice, and recidivism during a 12-month follow-up period. Findings indicate that detainees who felt treated fairly by prison staff, perceived their probation officer to be fairer, and, subsequently, they had a lower likelihood of getting reconvicted. How prison staff are perceived by people in prison may impact those people’s perceptions of their probation officers which in turn may affect their offending behavior.