Recidivism patterns and rehabilitation policies: Lessons from comparative penology

Recidivism patterns and rehabilitation policies: Lessons from comparative penology

Ernest Ramokone Lekalakala & Thabiso Donald Matshaba

Issue: Vol. 7 No.8 2026 Article 14 pp.2375 – 2388
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.20267814 Published online 6th October 2026

94 Downloads

DOWNLOAD PDF

ABSTRACT

Recidivism remains a central challenge in penology, reflecting the complex interplay between correctional practices, societal reintegration, and individual offender circumstances. Persistent reoffending undermines public safety, strains criminal justice resources, and raises questions about the effectiveness of rehabilitation strategies. This study examined recidivism patterns and rehabilitation policies through a comparative penological lens, aiming to identify best practices and factors influencing reoffending across diverse jurisdictions. Employing a systematic literature review methodology, the study synthesised empirical and policy-oriented research from 2015 to 2025, focusing on peer-reviewed journals, governmental reports, and international correctional guidelines. The findings reveal significant variation in recidivism rates, primarily influenced by the nature of correctional strategies. Jurisdictions emphasising rehabilitation, educational and vocational training, and post-release social support demonstrate markedly lower reoffending rates, whereas punitive-oriented systems without adequate reintegration mechanisms exhibit higher recidivism. The study highlights the crucial role of structured interventions and socioeconomic support in facilitating the sustainable reintegration of offenders. In conclusion, a comparative analysis highlights that effective recidivism reduction requires integrating individualised rehabilitation programs, community engagement, and supportive policy frameworks. The study contributes to penological scholarship by providing cross-national insights into best practices, offering evidence-based recommendations for policymakers, and advancing understanding of the linkages between correctional strategies and offender outcomes.

Keywords: Recidivism, Comparative Penology, Offender Reintegration, Criminal Justice, Evidence-Based Interventions

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Amaral, Marcelo Parreira do. “Comparative Case Studies: Methodological Discussion.” In Landscapes of Lifelong Learning Policies across Europe: Comparative Case Studies, 41–60. Springer International Publishing, Cham, 2022.

Andrews, Don A., James Bonta, and Robert D. Hoge. “Classification for Effective Rehabilitation: Rediscovering Psychology.” Criminal Justice and Behaviour 17, no. 1 (1990): 19–52.

Armstrong, R., and B. Weaver. “Beyond the Prison Gate: The Importance of Throughcare for Effective Resettlement .” Routledge, 2020.

ASPE (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation). “Reentry and Housing Stability: Final Report,” 2024. https://aspe.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/49f0895779c6b984a9261c96f747e707/reentry-housing-stability.pdf.

Bingham, L. B., and R. O’Leary. “ The Promise and Pitfalls of Collaborative Governance.” Public Administration Review 81, no. 6 (2021): 1080–91.

Caldeira, Larissa, Courtney Bagdon-Cox, and Barbara A. Sharp. “Evaluating the Efficacy of Thinking for a Change (T4C) in Reducing Recidivism.” Department of Corrections, Washington State. https://doc. wa. gov/docs …, 2023.

Connell, Catriona, Mary Birken, Hannah Carver, Tamara Brown, and Jessica Greenhalgh. “Effectiveness of Interventions to Improve Employment for People Released from Prison: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.” Health & Justice 11, no. 1 (14 March 2023): 17. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40352-023-00217-w.

Creswell, J. W., and C. N. Poth. Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing among Five Approaches. 4th ed. Sage, 2018.

Cronje, J., and R. Peacock. Understanding Recidivism in South Africa: Offenders’ Experiences of Reintegration Challenges. Criminal Justice Studies. Vol. 36, 2023.

Davis, Lois M., Robert Bozick, Jennifer L. Steele, Jessica Saunders, and Jeremy N. V. Miles. “Evaluating the Effectiveness of Correctional Education.” Rand Corporation, 2013.

Fazel, Seena, Connie Hurton, Matthias Burghart, Matt DeLisi, and Rongqin Yu. “An Updated Evidence Synthesis on the Risk-Need-Responsivity (RNR) Model: Umbrella Review and Commentary.” Journal of Criminal Justice 92 (2024): 102197.

Fulham, L., et al. “A Meta-Analysis of Recidivism and Other Relevant Outcomes in Restorative Justice Programs.” SAGE Open 13, no. 2 (2023).

Gibbs, Daisy, Emily Stockings, Sarah Larney, Daniel J. Bromberg, Anthony Shakeshaft, and Sara Farnbach. “The Impact of Supported Accommodation on Health and Criminal Justice Outcomes of People Released from Prison: A Systematic Literature Review.” Harm Reduction Journal 20, no. 1 (July 21, 2023): 91. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12954-023-00832-8.

Habib, R., and S. Al-Khaled. “Civil Society as Compliance Translator: Prison Oversight in the Middle East.” International Journal of Human Rights 28, no. 2 (2024): 179–98.

Johansson, L. “Civil Society in Scandinavian Prison Oversight: Opportunities and Barriers.” Nordic Journal of Human Rights 40, no. 1 (2022): 67–88.

Lee, C., R. Tan, and K. Ho. “Civil Society and Prison Reform in Southeast Asia: A Normative Perspective.” Asian Journal of Criminology 17, no. 3 (2022): 211–30.

Lutz, Maximilian, Davide Zani, Michael Fritz, Manuela Dudeck, and Irina Franke. “A Review and Comparative Analysis of the Risk-Needs-Responsivity, Good Lives, and Recovery Models in Forensic Psychiatric Treatment.” Frontiers in Psychiatry 13 (2022): 988905.

Macdonald, Christel, Georgina Macpherson, Oscar Leppan, Lucy Thi Tran, Evan B Cunningham, Behzad Hajarizadeh, Jason Grebely, Michael Farrell, Frederick L Altice, and Louisa Degenhardt. “Interventions to Reduce Harms Related to Drug Use among People Who Experience Incarceration: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.” The Lancet Public Health 9, no. 9 (September 2024): e684–99. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(24)00160-9.

Marshall, Tasné. “Breaking the Cycle: Examining the Socio-Economic and Psychological Factors in Recidivism Patterns in South Africa.” Law, Democracy and Development 29 (2025): 80–103.

McCuish, Evan C., Shawn Bushway, Patrick Lussier, and Kelsey Gushue. “The Impact of Incarceration on Reoffending: A Period-to-Period Analysis of Canadian Youth Followed into Adulthood.” Journal of Criminal Justice 96 (2025): 102335.

Nowell, Lorelli S, Jill M Norris, Deborah E White, and Nancy J Moules. “Thematic Analysis: Striving to Meet the Trustworthiness Criteria.” International Journal of Qualitative Methods 16, no. 1 (2017): 1609406917733847.

Okoth, P. “ Civil Society and Prison Reform in East Africa: Building Humane Correctional Systems.” African Human Rights Law Journal 23, no. 1 (2023): 55–76.

Page, Matthew J, Joanne E McKenzie, Patrick M Bossuyt, Isabelle Boutron, Tammy C Hoffmann, Cynthia D Mulrow, Larissa Shamseer, et al. “The PRISMA 2020 Statement: An Updated Guideline for Reporting Systematic Reviews.” BMJ, March 29, 2021, n71. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n71.

Pruss, Dasha. “Ghosting the Machine: Judicial Resistance to a Recidivism Risk Assessment Instrument.” In Proceedings of the 2023 ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency, 312–23, 2023.

Samuels, Jerome A., Nicolette V. Roman, and Marelize Schoeman. “A Qualitative Inquiry: Management of Recidivism in South Africa.” Crime, Law and Social Change 82, no. 1 (2024): 197–218.

Santos, A., and A. Buyse. “Civil Society and Transnational Accountability: Lessons from Prison Oversight.” Human Rights Quarterly 45, no. 1 (2023): 98–123.

Smith, Andrew, Anton Roberts, Karolina Krzemieniewska‐Nandwani, Elizabeth Eggins, Will Cook, Chris Fox, Shadd Maruna, Stephanie Wallace, and Kirstine Szifris. “Revisiting the Effectiveness of Cognitive‐behavioural Therapy for Reducing Reoffending in the Criminal Justice System: A Systematic Review.” Campbell Systematic Reviews 20, no. 3 (2024): e1425.

Sterne, Jonathan AC, Miguel A Hernán, Barnaby C Reeves, Jelena Savović, Nancy D Berkman, Meera Viswanathan, David Henry, et al. “ROBINS-I: A Tool for Assessing Risk of Bias in Non-Randomised Studies of Interventions.” BMJ, October 12, 2016, i4919. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.i4919.

Stickle, Ben, and Steven Sprick Schuster. “Are Schools in Prison Worth It? The Effects and Economic Returns of Prison Education.” American Journal of Criminal Justice 48, no. 6 (2023): 1263–94.

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. The State of Corruption: Report on Anti-Corruption Frameworks. Vienna: UNODC, 2021.

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). “Global Prison Population and Trends: A Focus on Rehabilitation,” 2024. https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/briefs/Prison_brief_2024.pdf.

Xinyi Han, Jessy, Kristjan Greenewald, and Devavrat Shah. “Fairness Is More Than Algorithms: Racial Disparities in Time-to-Recidivism.” ArXiv E-Prints, 2025, arXiv-2504.

Yukhnenko, Denis, Leen Farouki, and Seena Fazel. “Criminal Recidivism Rates Globally: A 6-Year Systematic Review Update.” Journal of Criminal Justice 88 (2023): 102115.

Zyl Smit, D. van, and C. Appleton. Global Prison Trends 2022: Health, Rights, and Accountability. Penal Reform International, 2022.

Wong, Jennifer S., Kia Neilsen, Kelsey Gushue, and Chelsey Lee. “The Effects of Halfway Houses on Criminal Recidivism: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.” International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology 69, no. 12 (2025): 1781–1804. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X251327574.

ABOUT AUTHOR(S)

Ernest Ramokone Lekalakala is a Lecturer in Law, Safety and Security Management at the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), based in Pretoria, South Africa. He holds a PhD in Criminal Justice from the University of South Africa (UNISA), where his research focused on a penological analysis of the Judicial Inspectorate of Prisons. His scholarly interests include correctional services administration, penology, recidivism, and forensic investigations. He has extensive experience in higher education, specialising in curriculum development, academic administration, and research dissemination. He also serves as Vice-Chairperson of the Correctional Supervision and Parole Board in the Department of Correctional Services, leveraging his expertise in rehabilitation, policy formulation, and criminal justice systems. His professional background spans multiple roles in the public and private sectors, including security management and corrections. He is a dedicated educator and researcher who actively contributes to academic and community initiatives while conducting research on safety and security management, rehabilitation, and criminal justice reform.

Thabiso Donald Matshaba is an Associate Professor in the Department of Corrections Management within the School of Criminal Justice, College of Law, at the University of South Africa (UNISA). He holds a Doctor of Literature and Philosophy (D.Litt. et Phil.) in Penology. He has completed several postgraduate qualifications, including a Master of Technology in Corrections Management, a Master of Arts in Governance and Political Transformation, and a Master of Education in Open and Distance Learning. His academic training also includes a Bachelor of Technology and a National Diploma in Corrections Management. Professor Matshaba’s scholarly expertise lies in penology, corrections management, criminal justice, and offender rehabilitation, with particular emphasis on the South African correctional system. He serves on the editorial boards of accredited academic journals and is an active member of the Criminological Society of Africa (CRIMSA). His research contributions focus on contemporary challenges in the criminal justice system, particularly issues related to correctional policy, management, and rehabilitation in South Africa.

TO CITE ARTICLE

Lekalakala, Ernest Ramokone, and Thabiso Donald Matshaba. “Recidivism patterns and rehabilitation policies: Lessons from comparative penology.” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 7, no.8 (2026): 2375 – 2388. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.20267814