A Lesson in Recidivism Research

This snippet points out just two of the many ways alleged study outcomes can be manipulated to give the appearance of whatever the speaker wants to support: LOW or HIGH recidivism, it depends on who is citing the study and what their chosen focus is. Our thanks to Crime and Consequences for this insight.

7-1-2009 National:

Recidivism research is a difficult business. It's not easy obtaining data and following offenders over time. Deciding what the outcome variables should be and how they should be measured is notoriously tricky. Thus, it is hardly surprising when one study suggests a low recidivism rate for certain offenders while others signal much higher rates. But when a study suggests a zero rate of recidivism, that's something worth looking at carefully.

This study is not new, but it's frequently cited by those who wish to suggest that recidivism rates among juvenile sex offenders can be low - very low. Rarely do those who cite to it, however, mention that in that study the authors followed only 10 adolescent sex offenders, for only 6 months, and relied on self-report as the sole measure of recidivism. The authors probably never intended their study to stand for the proposition that sex offender recidivism can be in the zero range, but alas, that is what it has become.

The devil really is in the details. ..Source.. by Steve Erickson