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recidivism

UK/rɪˈsɪdɪvɪzm̩/US/ɹəˈsɪdəvəzm̩/
nounC2Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #13,117 of 15,258leans written

Recidivism is the habit of returning to crime after punishment. High recidivism, reduce recidivism, recidivism rates.

The rate is the standard measure of whether a prison system works at all, and short sentences reliably produce the worst figures. The Latin behind it means falling back.

Definitions of recidivism

  1. 1nounrecidivismThe habit of returning to crime after punishment.C2

    “Programmes that help prisoners find jobs aim to cut recidivism after release.”

recidivism is a relapsing.

Where it comes from

Latin recidivus means falling back, from recidere, to fall back.

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *ḱh₂d-

  2. Latin

    recidīvus — returning, recurring

  3. French

    récidivisme

  4. English, today

    recidivism

From French récidivisme, from Latin recidīvus (“returning, recurring”). Compare recidivous, -ism. by surface analysis, recidive + -ism.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

recidivism in the wild

  • Studies consistently show that education in prison is an effective way of reducing the rates of recidivism, which saves the expense of future prison sentences.

    Prison education

  • The goal is to address the underlying root causes of crime in order to prevent recidivism once inmates are released from prison.

    Rehabilitation (penology)

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.