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. 2015 Jun 18;10(6):e0130390.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0130390. eCollection 2015.

A Systematic Review of Criminal Recidivism Rates Worldwide: Current Difficulties and Recommendations for Best Practice

Seena Fazel  1 , Achim Wolf  1
Affiliations

A Systematic Review of Criminal Recidivism Rates Worldwide: Current Difficulties and Recommendations for Best Practice

Seena Fazel et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Objectives: To systematically review recidivism rates internationally, report whether they are comparable and, on the basis of this, develop best reporting guidelines for recidivism.

Methods: We searched MEDLINE, Google Web, and Google Scholar search engines for recidivism rates around the world, using both non-country-specific searches as well as targeted searches for the 20 countries with the largest total prison populations worldwide.

Results: We identified recidivism data for 18 countries. Of the 20 countries with the largest prison populations, only 2 reported repeat offending rates. The most commonly reported outcome was 2-year reconviction rates in prisoners. Sample selection and definitions of recidivism varied widely, and few countries were comparable.

Conclusions: Recidivism data are currently not valid for international comparisons. Justice Departments should consider using the reporting guidelines developed in this paper to report their data.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

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Fig 1. PRISMA Flow Diagram.
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