The frequency at which an act is repeated by a person is referred to as the recidivism rate. Usually this performance is preceded by occurrence of a retrogressive episode of the act or the person has been coached to stop the act. It can be termed as the ratio of past offenders who have been apprehended again for the same offense. Tough penalties are given to these repeat offenders to discourage others from making it a habit.
There are varied of ways in which the crime repetition can be computed. These can be through re-apprehension, re-assurance and re-imprisonment among others. Reports on behavior in the neighborhoods and communities can also be used. It however depends on the state and what legislation is in place to be used for the tallying. While recidivism is thought of as going back to an offense, there is no genuine way of establishing if the offense has been committed. The recorded statistics of the activities are deficient accounts for appraising offense actions as some go unnoticed. Interrogations are also used to get information on offenses acts from suspects. However, there are also challenges attached to this method such as forgetfulness, concealing, falsehood among other traits that felons use. It is therefore equally hard to use this system to account for criminal activity. (Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, 2009)
The rate of recidivism of 0% is questionable as there is no information on how the data was arrived at. What methodology was used and was it compared with another method to ensure full knowledge is gathered. Information can be assembled using interrogation to verify if there is repetition after the correction series. Information from existing entries of offenses acts and registering a novel fault during a prescribed period. Establishing the time difference between the felon acts can also be used to get the repetitiveness of criminal activity. Era of crime repetition is important for accounting and comprehending the developments basic to the results of the approved interventions. Recidivism is described by commencing and ceasing episodes. (National Institute of Justice, 2008)
Having a crime rate of 0% is great but it creates suspicion on the statistics used to compute the findings. Information on crime should be sourced from different spheres in the offense history to ascertain the level of criminal activity. Use of reporting systems such as the series answerability account will give an answer that has no bias. This is due to its large statistical base reducing the prejudice that may occur. (National Institute of Justice, 2008)
The data provided has no explanation on what method was undertaken to reduce the criminal acts to a level that low. In reality it is believed that not all crime is reported or detected. Therefore, the data is questionable and should have been supported by a time period of study and the circumstances surrounding the investigations. The boot camp training should have been used together with other methods such as punishing systems, supervising in detention, use of intermediate houses, restraint, exercise, manual labor, lessons and treatment. If these other methods were used, then they were not shown to give the findings credibility. The activity of determining the repeat offense in a criminal activity requires extensive data to safeguard against inaccurate reporting. (Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, 2009)
Conclusion
Criminology is a complex study and care has to be taken. The reporting of the level of felony in an area can be used by a myriad of people in society to plan other activities. The state also uses the statistics for planning on the security of its citizens. Therefore accurate reporting is paramount to a successful study of the crime trend and level in a given area.
Work Cited
Florida Department of Juvenile Justice. Performance Measurement Reports. 2009. Web.
National Institute of Justice. Measuring Recidivism. 2008. Web.