Final Report Summary - RELEASED (Re-offending over the Life Course: A Study on Homicide Offender Recidivism)
The main question this project answers is: What makes prisoners successful in remaining crime-free after their release from long-term imprisonment? Today, one out of every ten prisoners is serving a long-term sentence. In recent years, the number of long-term sentences is dramatically rising. Prisoners are serving increasingly longer terms of incarceration. This growth is linked to policy changes, not to increases in crime rates. In recent years there has been a significant shift both in public discussion and policy attention to the goal of imprisonment, public safety, the fiscal costs and implications of imprisonment for victims and offenders. This conversation needs to be expanded to the application of life sentences. The Lifers beyond Bars project at Leiden University is conducted in close partnership with the Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
Against the backdrop of tough-on-crime policies, this project takes a close look at the lives of men and women sentenced to long-term sentences, the events that lead to their incarceration, and the struggles they faced upon release. The goal of this project is to ensuring that policy and practice of treating violent offenders are closely tied to state-of-the art research.
To meet this goal, the researcher interviewed over 100 men and women who served a prison sentence for homicide – both in the United States and The Netherlands. Results indicate that long-term confinement does not lead to lower recidivism rates, particularly when individuals are subject to extended periods of supervision post-confinement.
In this project, recent publications include Post-Release Success among Paroled Lifers in Laws, Punishment of Homicide Offenders in International Criminal Justice Review, The Role of Transformation Narratives in Desistance Among Released Lifers in Criminal Justice and Behavior and Criminal Recidivism Among Homicide Offenders in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence. Liem’s commentary on sentencing minors to life without parole appeared in the December 2012 edition of This New England Blog by The Providence Journal; her article on recidivism of homicide offenders was featured in Aggression and Violent Behavior; and she was quoted in Harvard Magazine's feature on the Prison Problem. A book on the project, titled ‘Lifers beyond Bars’ captures the lives of those who served decade-long sentences. It will be published by New York University Press in Spring 2016.
URL:
http://campusdenhaag.leiden.edu/(opens in new window)
http://www.violenceresearchinitiative.org/long-term-imprisonment.html(opens in new window)
Against the backdrop of tough-on-crime policies, this project takes a close look at the lives of men and women sentenced to long-term sentences, the events that lead to their incarceration, and the struggles they faced upon release. The goal of this project is to ensuring that policy and practice of treating violent offenders are closely tied to state-of-the art research.
To meet this goal, the researcher interviewed over 100 men and women who served a prison sentence for homicide – both in the United States and The Netherlands. Results indicate that long-term confinement does not lead to lower recidivism rates, particularly when individuals are subject to extended periods of supervision post-confinement.
In this project, recent publications include Post-Release Success among Paroled Lifers in Laws, Punishment of Homicide Offenders in International Criminal Justice Review, The Role of Transformation Narratives in Desistance Among Released Lifers in Criminal Justice and Behavior and Criminal Recidivism Among Homicide Offenders in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence. Liem’s commentary on sentencing minors to life without parole appeared in the December 2012 edition of This New England Blog by The Providence Journal; her article on recidivism of homicide offenders was featured in Aggression and Violent Behavior; and she was quoted in Harvard Magazine's feature on the Prison Problem. A book on the project, titled ‘Lifers beyond Bars’ captures the lives of those who served decade-long sentences. It will be published by New York University Press in Spring 2016.
URL:
http://campusdenhaag.leiden.edu/(opens in new window)
http://www.violenceresearchinitiative.org/long-term-imprisonment.html(opens in new window)