Recidivism: a comparative study of New Zealand first offenders and recidivists

Abstract

Criminal recidivism is a serious social problem for any country in the world. Warren's dictionary of psychology defines crime as "1) a major contravention or infraction of civic law; 2) the performance of some act which is forbidden by statute and which is accompanied by social condemnation" (1962, p.26). Two main criteria are apparently required before any act may be labelled a crime. It must first be condemned and forbidden by laws; secondly, it must be punished by laws. In any given society, there are a number of activities which can be condemned and punished by the laws of that society. It follows then, that the word "crime" itself denotes different activities. We may have crime against property (such as theft and burglary), crime against people (such as robbery, assault and murder), crimes of dishonesty, sexual crimes and crime against good order (e.g.drunkenness, disorderly behaviour). The nature and seriousness of a crime varies according to the extent to which any particular criminal act affects other people and the way the public and the legislators of that society react to it. In view of their interference with the welfare of all the people in a society, some antisocial activities are usually punished by the laws of every society. Such acts as robbery, theft, burglary, rape, murder and violent assault, are condemned by most societies. Other acts labelled by some socieites as crimes are not regarded as being anti-social or harmful in other societies. For example, homosexual activity between consenting adults in private was defined as criminal in England because of the social disapproval a century ago. Today it is no longer a crime in England; similarly, Holland and Sweden do not regard it as such. It is still a crime in New Zealand, however. In some countries such as Vietnam, the concept of homosexuality has no meaning, nor is there a word for it in the Vietnamese language.