Social scientists have always been very curious about the factors which influence the recidivism rate of any society. There have been numerous researches in the field to identify the factor which can control the recidivism rate of the society, ultimately contributing to the decreased rate of crime in any society. In recent times, the direction of the research related to recidivism has shifted a lite bit, due to which the social scientists are now focusing more on redemption research instead of focusing on recidivism. The modern-day social scientists are more concerned about finding out the time limit in which a criminal becomes redeemed, as well as the time limit after which the redeemed criminal attempt to commit a crime again. In addition to it, the social scientists are also concerned about the factor that if the male and the female criminals take the same time to become redeemed as well as get tempted to the commit the crime again. One such research study was conducted by April Pattavina, Gina Curcio, and William Fisher, which was published in the year 2018. The research study was entitled "Gender differences on the road to redemption." The research study was published in one of the most reputed journals, which is named as Feminist Criminology. The research article may have been an attempt by the authors to explore the gender differences on the way to redemption; however, it also explored the years that the criminal offenders take to redeem as well as get tempted to the commit crimes again like the first time offenders.
The summary of the research article is that there has been no research in the field to explore the differences in the male and female offenders regarding reaching the point of redemption . The research study attempted to find the number of years the male and female offender take to redeem, as well as develop the likelihood of recidivism like the first time offenders. The purpose of the research study was to explore the time limit after the occurrence of the crime, after which a criminal was considered redeemed. The authors of the research study also intended to find the factors which influence the redemption point. Another most important thing in this regard is that the authors of the research study were interested in finding the gender differences in the years of redemption. The research study was the first one in history which focused on the differences of the men and women regarding the exploration of the years of redemption. The initial researches in the field only focused on the redemption years of the male criminals or the female criminals, and no research study focused on exploring the difference between the male and female criminals regarding the redemption years (Curcio, Pattavina, & Fisher, 2018).
The research methodology utilized by the researchers is qualitative research. The research data for the current research study was gathered from the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY97), which is well reputed, authentic and ongoing research study in the United States of America. The researchers used the analytical approach to study and interpret the findings of the data, as well as find the elements which were related to their research study. One of the most remarkable points of the source of data is that it has the authentic information of all the participants of the research study. The data of most of the ongoing longitudinal studies are not considered reliable because of the fact that the researchers lose contact with the participants, in case they move out of the city or experience any other change in their lives. However, this particular longitudinal study kept track of the participants until the last time and updated the data accordingly, which was a greater opportunity for the researchers to get authentic results. The results of the research study highlighted the fact that male offenders took more time to reach the redemption point as compared to female offenders. The research study also provided an estimated number of years, which revealed that male offenders could take up to ten years to reach the point of redemption. On the other hand, female offenders only take up to four years to reach the point of redemption. The researchers drew the conclusion that there is a gender difference on the road to redemption as the male offenders take more years to reach the point of redemption as compared to the female offenders. The research study also highlighted the point that it has been verified that there is a difference in the number of years the male and female offenders take to reach the point of recidivism and the female offenders reach the point earlier than the male offenders. However, more research studies are required to find out the reasons why female offenders reach the point of redemption earlier than male offenders (Gueta, & Chen, 2016).
The quality of the research article is quite refined and authentic, as it has been formulated by exploring the data from an ongoing longitudinal research study. The introduction of the research article is discussed in an elaborated manner. The authors of the research article have ensured to introduce the topic of their research problem as well as the background of the research problem in an effective manner. The greatest strength of the introduction section is that it has explored the fact that most of the offenders who complete their sentence and become redeem, develop the chances of recidivism after a few years. They become equal to the first time offenders after a few years of redemption, and the main reason behind this is that the past offenders are not viewed favorably in the society. They are not provided with equal opportunities for employment, which also hinders their chances of making progress. So, they get tempted to go back to their criminal life, or it would not be wrong to say that they are not left with any other option, except getting involved in criminal activities again. One of the greatest strength of the methods section of the research study is that it has included the data from a national level ongoing longitudinal research study, which is not only reliable and authentic but also provides the opportunity of studying a realistic data and drawing the results accordingly, which can fairly be generalized. The strength of the results section is that it has been derived from realistic data, so it provides a clear picture of the issue. The strength of the discussion section of the research article is that it has discussed different aspects of the research problem in a great deal while discussing the present status of the problem. It has also included the description of the policy matters, as well as recommendations about the problem, in order to provide a direction about future research studies. There are no particular weaknesses of different sections of the research study, and the authors have presented each and every section in quite a detail (Curcio, Pattavina, & Fisher, 2018).
The researchers have used the appropriate and ethical application of research methods in relation to their research goals. The goal of the research study was to identify the difference in the number of years which the male and the female offenders take to reach the point of redemption. The research method utilized by the researchers was the analytical analysis of the data gathered from the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY97), which is an ongoing longitudinal research study. The research method utilized in the research study is appropriate in the way that it is utilizing the data of actual research, which has studied the crime patterns of a wide range of participants from an early age. The longitudinal study also kept a record of the participants who moved to other cities, in order to ensure the data of the research does not get affected. So it is providing a realistic detail about recidivism and redemption of the male and the female offenders, which increases the opportunity of getting a perfect result for the present research study. The research method applied in this particular research study is also ethical in the way that it is using the data from a national survey, and utilizing it for the purpose of conducting another research study. The personal data of the research participants are not being used for the personal reasons, as well as it is not being utilized to highlight the personal details of the research participants (Gueta, & Chen, 2016).
The application of the analytic approach into the research study provides the opportunity to the researchers to break down the provided data and analyze it from the perspective of their own research problem. The purpose of the research study was to find the number of years which the male and the female offenders took, after being redeemed to developed the tendency of recidivism, as well as reach the same level as the first time offenders. The analytic approach supported the study in the way that it helped in the analysis of the survey data while keeping in view the years of non-offending of the previous offenders, after finally being tempted to recidivism. The research approach utilized in the research study is appropriate because of the fact that it provided the opportunity of detailed analysis of the survey data, according to the requirement of the present research study (Curcio, Pattavina, & Fisher, 2018).
The data of the research study interpreted that the participants of the research study were observed at the age of eighteen, nineteen and twenty years. Some of them committedthe crimes and had to serve the legal punishment of their actions. On the other hand, some of them did not commit any crime. Then the participants were again observed over the course of years, in order to check that how many offenders repeat the crime or the offending behavior, as well as the years they take to repeat their offending behavior. The data of the research study highlighted the fact that the offenders, who had committed some crime, developed the tendency of repeating the crime or the offending behavior after ten years of their first offense. It highlighted the fact that they remained ten years without committing any crime, or reach the same level as the non-offenders, before repeating the criminal behavior. One of the most important implications of the research data was it also depicted the attitude of the employers, as they wanted to explore that after how many years a one-time offender has the tendency of repeating the crime. For example, if a person has spent twelve teas after his first offense, it can be said that he has passed the limit of repeating the crime and there are greater chances of not repeating it. The strength of the data is that it provided detail of the differences between male and female offenders. The weakness of the data is that it did not shed light on the factors which give rise to the tendency of recidivism among male and female offenders (Curcio, Pattavina, & Fisher, 2018).
The research design utilized in the research study plays a very important role in strengthening the claims presented in the study. One of the most important points which shed lights on the importance of the research design is that it has utilized longitudinal research data, in order to asses the problem. If the research study would have opted for conducting the study by gathering the data from the starting point, it would have become quite complicated, as well as it would have taken a number of years for the researchers to get their hands on an actual data. Moreover, it also provided the opportunity of examining the male and female populations separately, in order to find the number of years; each gender took to get back to their offender status, after spending years without committing any offense. The research design also helped to explore that certain offenders spend years of their life as non- offenders before finally committing the crime again. It helped to explore the data while keeping in view that factors like lack of high school or college diploma, lack of employment opportunities, alcoholic nature and other factors which could influence the point of redemption (Gueta, & Chen, 2016).
The research study is beneficial for the social policy implication because it has shed light on the fact that the recidivism rate is being affected due to the employers’ attitude. There is a general pattern in the society that the criminal record of the individuals is checked before finally appointing them to some position. In the case of criminal offenders, who had been convicted in the past, the employer resists to hire them and in some cases openly refuse to appoint such individuals. The capabilities, as well as the qualifications of the individual, are simply ignored. This gives rise to the lack of employment opportunities for the ex-convicts which often play an important role in their recidivism. So the researchers have stressed that the policy should be developed to secure the opportunities of progress and growth of such individual, instead of being stigmatized for their whole life. Moreover, in the case of convictions related to drugs, the government also stops the support of such individuals, which causes great stress. So, the ex-convicts should be provided with opportunities for progress, in order to control the recidivism rate among them. The research article provides the theoretical knowledge of the difference between male and female ex-convicts to repeat their criminal behavior (Curcio, Pattavina, & Fisher, 2018).
The research study conducted by Curcio, Pattavina, and Fisher, has shed light on the gender differences to the road to redemption. The research has highlighted the fact that while a male member of the society who committed a crime and redeemed reach the point of redemption in about ten years, which is actually their tendency of repeating the crime. On the other hand, females reach the point of redemption in only four years. The significance of the research study is that it has shed light on the changed behavior of the people of two genders towards committing and repeating the offenses. The research study has utilized a perfect design which helps it get the desired results of the study. However, more research in the field is required to identify the reasons for female redemption which occurs in only four years.
References
Curcio, G., Pattavina, A., & Fisher, W. (2018). Gender differences on the road to redemption. Feminist Criminology, 13(2), 182-204.
Gueta, K., & Chen, G. (2016). Men and women inmates’ accounts of their pathways to crime: A gender analysis. Deviant Behavior, 37(12), 1459-1472.
