Prepared by Patrick A. Langan and David J. Levin of the Bureau of Justice Statistics, this 16-page report examines the rate of recidivism among a cohort of 272,111 former inmates for three years after their release in 1994. This particular cohort represents two-thirds of all prisoners released in the United States that year. The data analyzed in this report reveals that released prisoners with the highest rearrest rates were robbers, burglars, larcenists, and motor vehicle thieves. Other data from the study shows that within 3 years, 2.5% of released rapists were arrested for another rape. Additional material in the report includes a comparison of recidivism rates in prisoners released in 1983 and 1994, and a detailed explication of the methods utilized in the study.
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