For those who serve prison terms, re-offending is very common. In fact, some sources claim that it's something that happens to more than 50% of former prisoners. They're going to re-offend at some point, and many people will be re-arrested.

But why does this happen? After all, those who defend the prison system as a deterrent to crime often claim that serving a sentence should keep someone from re-offending. It makes them well aware of the consequences so that they will follow the law in the future. The statistics make it clear that this doesn't happen, but why not?

Integration into society

Often, the problem is just that it's hard for those who have served time to reintegrate back into society. This is especially true for those serving lengthy sentences. It will be much easier for someone who has been behind bars for a year to re-enter society, for example, than someone who had to serve a 20-year sentence.

For those who have a permanent record, that record itself is part of the reason they re-offend. For example, someone may turn to criminal means to make money specifically because their felony record is preventing them from getting a job. They still have to make ends meet, so they feel pressured into breaking the law. Rather than acting as a deterrent, the criminal record is the reason that this behavior continues.

Defense options

As you can see, the criminal defense system is far more complex than many people assume. It's clearly very important for all those facing charges to understand what legal defense options they have.

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