A comparative study of recidivism factors associated with different offense categories in South Africa

Abstract The dearth of official, accurate reoffending data and empirical insight into the factors associated with recidivism in South Africa, including the overrepresentation of violent and sexual offending in the recidivism literature can be argued to negatively impact the development of effective interventions and associated policies. The current study therefore explored the differences between recidivists (N = 202) from different offending categories with respect to cognitive-behavioral, victimogenic, social, environmental, substance use and employment variables. The findings indicated a significant comparative difference in deviant decision-making patterns by sexual offenders, justification of offending behavior by narcotic offenders and involvement in gangsterism and substance use by aggressive offenders. Economic offenses were also significantly more frequently committed by the participants. The study provides new insight into the socio-psychological understanding of recidivism and recommends that future research be sensitive to the local context but is also aware of the changing nature of African ideologies globally.