Introduction |All inmates released |Reconvictions by violent offenders released from prison |Reconvictions by sex offenders released from prison | Summary
2.1 Prior conviction and imprisonment histories of all inmates
2.1 Prior conviction and imprisonment histories of all inmates
Table 1 summarises the conviction histories prior to imprisonment of all inmates released from prison between 1995 and 1998. Inmates had an average of 30 and median of 20 prior convictions. Over two-thirds (70%) of the inmates had more than 10 convictions prior to being imprisoned.
Only 5% of the inmates had no prior convictions. However, for nearly one-fifth (18%) of these "first offenders", while they had no prior convictions, they had prior proved offences in the Youth Court. Almost two-thirds (65%) of the imprisoned "first offenders" were convicted of a violent or sexual offence, almost one-quarter (24%) were convicted of a property offence (mostly burglary or fraud), and 6% were convicted of drug dealing.
Table 2 shows the number of distinct occasions in the past that inmates had been imprisoned. A little over a third (38%) of the inmates had not been imprisoned previously. Inmates had an average of 2.7 and median of 1 prior imprisonment sentences. Sixteen percent of the inmates had been to prison previously on more than five distinct occasions.
2.2 Reconvictions by all inmates released
Table 3 shows the six month, one year, two year, and five year reconviction rates[2] for all people released from prison in the period 1995 to 1998. Over a third (37%) of inmates were reconvicted of some offence within six months of release, while over half (58%) were reconvicted within a year. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of inmates were reconvicted within two years of their release, and most inmates (86%) were reconvicted within five years.
The vast majority (94%) of the inmates who were reconvicted within two years of their release were convicted of at least one offence punishable by imprisonment[3]. For the remaining 6% of inmates who were reconvicted within two years, the most serious offence was non-imprisonable (i.e. it had a fine as the maximum penalty).
There was little difference in reconviction rates for inmates released in different years between 1995 and 1998, other than the inmates released in 1998 having slightly lower reconviction rates (particularly within two years of release) than inmates released in the three previous years.
Table 4 summarises the number of reconvictions for any type of offence for all inmates released from prison between 1995 and 1998[4]. Within six months of their release from prison, 37% of inmates were reconvicted, including 23% of the inmates who were reconvicted of more than one offence within six months. Within two years of their release from prison, 73% of inmates were reconvicted, including one-third (33%) of the inmates who were reconvicted of more than five offences within two years.
Table 5 shows reconviction rates for all people released from prison in the period 1995 to 1998 according to the gender of the inmates. Female inmates were less likely than male inmates to be reconvicted within all four time periods examined. Within two years of their release from prison, 74% of male inmates were reconvicted compared with 64% of female inmates. Even when controlling for other available variables[5], males were more likely than females to be reconvicted within two years.
Table 6 shows post-release reconviction rates according to the ethnicity of the inmates. Inmates who were European or Pacific peoples were less likely than Maori inmates to be reconvicted within all four time periods examined. Within two years of their release from prison, 68% of European inmates and 66% of Pacific people inmates were reconvicted compared with 78% of Maori inmates. Only 58% of inmates whose ethnicity was recorded as "Other" were reconvicted within two years. Even when controlling for other available variables, Maori were more likely than non-Maori to be reconvicted within two years.
Table 7 shows post-release reconviction rates according to the age of the inmates when they were released. Younger inmates were considerably more likely than older inmates to be reconvicted. Within two years of their release from prison, 91% of teenage inmates were reconvicted compared with 43% of inmates aged 40 or more. Nearly all (97%) of the teenage offenders released were reconvicted within five years. Age was found to be the variable (of those available) most strongly associated with whether or not inmates were reconvicted within two years.
Table 8 shows post-release reconviction rates according to the major offence inmates were imprisoned for.
Inmates released after serving a prison sentence for a property offence (86%), an offence against justice (82%), or an offence against good order (90%) were significantly more likely to be reconvicted within two years than offenders released for other types of offences, even when controlling for other available variables.
Table 9 shows post-release reconviction rates according to the sentence type and imposed sentence length the inmate was released from.
In general, inmates released after serving shorter prison sentences were more likely to be reconvicted than inmates released after serving longer prison sentences. Nine out of every ten inmates (92%) released from corrective training and three-quarters (75%) of the people released from imposed sentences of one year or less were reconvicted within two years, compared to less than half (46%) of the inmates with determinate sentences of more than five years being reconvicted. Thirteen (30%) of the 43 inmates released after serving a life imprisonment sentence were reconvicted of an offence within two years. These differences were statistically significant, even when controlling for other available variables.
Table 10 shows post-release reconviction rates according to the number of previous convicted cases of inmates. The more often people had been convicted previously, the more likely they were to be reconvicted following their release from prison. Within two years of their release from prison, 41% of first-time offenders were reconvicted compared with 85% of inmates with more than 20 previous convicted cases. Within five years of their release from prison, just over half (52%) of first-time offenders were reconvicted compared with nearly all (95%) of the inmates with more than 20 previous convicted cases. The number of previous convictions, together with the age of the inmate, are the two variables (of those available) that were found to be most strongly associated with the likelihood of being reconvicted within two years.
Table 11 shows post-release reconviction rates according to the number of previous imprisonment sentences of inmates. The more often people had been imprisoned previously, the more likely they were to be reconvicted following their release from prison. Within two years of their release from prison, 60% of first-time inmates were reconvicted compared with 90% of inmates with more than 10 previous imprisonment sentences. These differences were statistically significant, even when controlling for other available variables. Within five years of their release from prison, three-quarters (75%) of first-time inmates were reconvicted compared with nearly all (99%) of the inmates with more than 10 previous imprisonment sentences.
Table 12 presents information on the seriousness of reconvictions by inmates within two years of their release, controlling for the seriousness of the offence they were originally imprisoned for.
There appears to be some relationship between the seriousness of the offence inmates were imprisoned for, and the most serious offence they are reconvicted for - although the relationship is not clear-cut. Inmates released from prison after serving a sentence for an offence of "low" or "low to moderate" seriousness were more likely than other inmates to be reconvicted within two years of an offence of "low" or "low to moderate" seriousness. Also, inmates released from prison after serving a sentence for an offence of "moderate" or "moderate to high" seriousness were more likely than other inmates to be reconvicted within two years of an offence of "moderate" or "moderate to high" seriousness.
Table 12 shows that a little under half (45%) of the inmates imprisoned for offences of "high" seriousness were not reconvicted within two years of their release from prison. This was a much greater proportion than for all other inmates released. However, interestingly, inmates imprisoned for offences of "high" seriousness were slightly more likely than other inmates to be reconvicted within two years of another offence of "high" seriousness (7% compared with 4% for all other inmates).
The table highlights that only a very small proportion of all released inmates are reconvicted for very serious offences, and that the seriousness of the offence that the person was imprisoned for is not a reliable predictor of the likelihood of committing a serious offence in the future.
2.3 Reimprisonment by all inmates released
The previous section examined reconviction rates for released prisoners. However, reconviction rates based on a reconviction for any type of offence do not give a sense of the seriousness of the offences that the inmates were reconvicted for. Therefore, this section examines reimprisonment rates as these give a better indication that the inmates committed an offence that was considered serious enough by the courts to warrant reimprisoning the offender.
Table 13 shows the six month, one year, two year, and five year reimprisonment rates for all people released from prison in the period 1995 to 1998. Thirteen percent of inmates were reimprisoned within six months of release, while a quarter (25%) were reimprisoned within a year. Over a third (37%) of inmates were reimprisoned within two years of their release, and just over half the inmates (51%) were reimprisoned within five years.
There was little difference in reimprisonment rates for inmates released in different years between 1995 and 1998, other than the inmates released in 1998 having slightly lower reimprisonment rates within two years of release compared with inmates released in the three previous years.
Table 14 shows reimprisonment rates for all people released from prison in the period 1995 to 1998 according to the gender of the inmates. Female inmates were less likely than male inmates to be reimprisoned within all four time periods examined. Within two years of their release from prison, 38% of male inmates were reimprisoned compared with 23% of female inmates. Even when controlling for other available variables, males were more likely than females to be reimprisoned within two years.
Table 15 shows reimprisonment rates according to the ethnicity of the inmates. Inmates who were European or Pacific peoples were less likely than Maori inmates to be reimprisoned within all four time periods examined. Within two years of their release from prison, 31% of European inmates and 32% of Pacific people inmates were reimprisoned compared with 43% of Maori inmates. Even when controlling for other available variables, Maori were more likely than non-Maori to be reimprisoned within two years.
Table 16 shows reimprisonment rates according to the age of the inmates when they were released. Younger inmates were considerably more likely than older inmates to be reimprisoned.
Within two years of their release from prison, 59% of teenage inmates were reimprisoned compared with 17% of inmates aged 40 or more. Nearly three-quarters (71%) of the teenage offenders released were reimprisoned within five years. The age of the inmate, together with the number of previous prison sentences, are the two variables (of those available) that were found to be most strongly associated with the likelihood of being reimprisoned within two years.
Table 17 shows reimprisonment rates according to the major offence inmates were released from serving between 1995 and 1998. Inmates released after serving a prison sentence for a property offence (55%), an offence against justice (42%), or an offence against good order (57%) were significantly more likely to be reimprisoned within two years than offenders released for other types of offences, even when controlling for other available variables. Only 16% of the inmates released after serving a prison sentence for a drug offence were reimprisoned within two years - a significantly lower proportion than for other offence types.
Table 18 shows reimprisonment rates according to the sentence type and imposed sentence length the inmate was released from. In general, inmates released after serving shorter prison sentences were more likely to be reimprisoned than inmates released after serving longer prison sentences. Over half (57%) of the inmates released from corrective training and over a third (38%) of the people released from imposed sentences of one year or less were reimprisoned within two years, compared to only 17% of the inmates with determinate sentences of more than five years being reimprisoned. None of the 43 inmates released after serving a life imprisonment sentence were reimprisoned within two years. These differences were statistically significant, even when controlling for other available variables.
Table 19 shows reimprisonment rates according to the number of previous convicted cases of inmates.
The more often people had been convicted previously, the more likely they were to be reimprisoned following their release from prison. Within two years of their release from prison, 18% of first-time offenders were reimprisoned compared with 48% of inmates with more than 20 previous convicted cases. These differences were statistically significant, even when controlling for other available variables.
Table 20 shows reimprisonment rates according to the number of previous imprisonment sentences of inmates.
The more often people had been imprisoned previously, the more likely they were to be reimprisoned following their release from prison. Within two years of their release from prison, 22% of first-time inmates were reimprisoned compared with 64% of inmates with more than 10 previous imprisonment sentences. The number of previous prison sentences, together with the age of the inmate, are the two variables (of those available) that were found to be most strongly associated with the likelihood of being reimprisoned within two years. Within five years of their release from prison, one-third (33%) of first-time inmates were reimprisoned compared with most (84%) of the inmates with more than 10 previous imprisonment sentences.
Footnotes
2 Reconviction for any type of offence, including both traffic and non-traffic offences.
3 While punishable by imprisonment as the maximum penalty, some of these offences can be relatively minor.
4 All charges resulting in reconviction were counted. In some cases there may have been multiple convictions arising from the same incident.
5 Tested using Logistic Regression technique in SAS. Information was included in the model on: gender, ethnicity, age when released, type of offence, sentence type/ length imposed, number of prior convicted cases, and number of prior prison sentences. SAS is an integrated system of software produced by SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA.
