Prison Re-offending Statistics 2022

FAQ'S

1. What do Prison Re-offending Statistics measure?

Re-offending statistics measure the level of recorded re-offending by offenders who received a custodial sentence following their release from prison. The three-year re-offending rate indicates the percentage of people who were convicted for a crime incident that was recorded within three years of their release. A further two years after the three year period is set as the limit for a valid conviction to take place. The one-year re-offending rate indicates the same measure but includes only those who were convicted for a crime within one year of their release, with a further year set as the time limit for the court outcome to take place for example:

• An individual who was released in 2019 and linked to an incident in 2022 (within three years of their release) would be considered a three-year re-offender if the incident in 2022 was linked to a valid court outcome within two years (up to 2024) of the incident taking place.
• An individual who was released in 2022 and linked to an incident in 2023 (within one year of their release) would be considered a one-year re-offender if the incident in 2023 was linked to a valid court outcome within one year (up to 2024) of the incident taking place.

2. How is the Prison Re-offending rate calculated?

In order to calculate the rate of re-offending, it is necessary to match records from data collated by the Irish Prison Service with the Garda PULSE data. The matching process results in the selection of a PULSE identifier (or identifiers) for each subject. Convictions data is then examined to determine if individuals, who served either a prison sentence or received a fine sentence, had any subsequent convictions. In addition to these PULSE indicators, if an individual indicates from prisons data that a re-committal to prison takes place within the qualifying period then this also is used as an indication of a re-offence.

3. How are records matched?

Due to the absence of a unique identifier in the Irish Criminal Justice system, the matching process involves the comparison of individual records. In the region of 95% of all matches are made automatically. Due to data quality issues and limitations on the reliability of some information provided to law enforcement authorities, the remaining 5% of matches require manual examination. Methodological improvements to the matching process were introduced for the 2011 to 2022 cohorts. These improvements involved the introduction of new software and an updated matching protocol. The improvements have increased the reliability of the matching process but, in the absence of a common identifier in the criminal justice system, there will always be a degree of subjectivity associated with the matching process.

4. Are the rates of Probation and Prison Re-offending comparable?

The Probation and Prison publications were developed separately. They were designed primarily to meet the information needs of the Irish Probation Service and the Irish Prison Service. The needs of these organisations are broadly similar but there are some differences. For example, convictions must be secured within 24 months for three-year re-offending and 12 months for one-year re-offending of the date that the crime incident was reported to be included in the calculation of the prison re-offending rate. No such requirement exists with respect to the calculation of the probation re-offending rate. The exact list of exclusions differs between the publications. It is also important to bear in mind that the characteristics of the cohorts under consideration differs. The prison cohort tend to have committed more serious offences than their probation or fine sentence counterparts. Due to the differences discussed, it is not possible to make direct comparisons.

5. Is it possible to make comparisons across jurisdictions?

The definitions used in re-offending studies are not standardised internationally. The re-offending window, which is the time period after release from prison during which re-offences are considered, varies across jurisdictions. There are also variations as to what constitutes a re-offence. In some countries a custodial sentence is necessary while other countries consider rearrest to be the most appropriate measure. It is extremely difficult to compare re-offending rates across jurisdictions due to differences in definitions, data quality, legal systems, legal culture, and justice policy. Controlling for these differences would be a complex, but essential, process to draw meaningful conclusions from comparisons.

6. What's the difference between three-year and one-year measures of re-offending?

Three-year re-offending allows for a three year period after a prison sentence or fine sanction ends to monitor for any re-offences. If an incident is identified a subsequent two year period is reserved to see if the incident receives a qualifying court outcome. To measure one-year re-offending, just a one year time period for the re-offence and also one year for a court outcome is used to measure qualifying incidents.

7. What is the distinction between Crime Incidents and Offences?

An offence is a breach of a law or rule; an illegal act whereas a crime incident can be described as an event where one or more offences are committed by the same offender, or group of offenders acting in concert, at the same time and place.

Example: A singular crime incident takes place and is classified as relating to Public Order. The Gardai establish that one person is responsible for this crime and that person is charged with three separate offences relating to this crime incident, namely;

• Intoxication In Public Place Contrary to Section 4 of the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act.
• Threatening/Abusive/Insulting Behaviour In A Public Place.
• Assault - contrary to Section 2 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person 1997.

8. How are re-offending incidents categorised?

The CSO uses two methods to describe re-offending with respect to the types of re-offences.

Method 1: Crime Offence categorisation

For one method, the most serious offence (MSO) that took place during a re-offending incident is used as a way to categorise the re-offending incident. For the purpose of the CSO’s Prison Re-offending publication, each individual’s re-offending MSO’s is then grouped and summarised using the Irish Crime Classification System (ICCS) to create analysis statistics of re-offending. A copy of the ICCS (PDF 169KB) is available on the CSO website.

Tables 2.2, 2.3, 3.3, and 3.4 in this publication use the ICCS to describe re-offences.

Method 2: Crime Incident categorisation

Alternatively, the re-offending incident is categorised using a description of the incident itself. The incident description, while closely related to the offences and MSO from Method 1 does not always correspond to the same categorisation. Examples of this method of describing re-offending incidents include the categories 'Harm to Persons' and 'In charge of vehicles while influenced by Drugs, Alcohol'. This method of analysing re-offending aims to describe the characteristics of the re-offending crime incident rather than describe the incident solely in terms of its MSO. A copy of the CSO’s Crime Incident classification can be found in the Background Notes of this publication.

PxStat table PRA20 uses method 2 to describe re-offending crime incidents.