Almost 25% of prisoners come back to prisons eventually in their lives, while the first-year recidivism rate stands at a whopping 50%, stated head of Morocco’s Prison Administration (DGAPR) Mohamed Saleh Tamek at the Lower House on Tuesday, as he submitted the DGAPR’s 2024 draft budget.
Tamak indicated that the relapse primarily applies to males at a 25.3% rate, while only 7.8% of females face repeat incarceration subsequent to their initial release, based on the DGAPR study.
Data also revealed that people aged 18-30 showed the highest rate of recidivism at 28.7%.
The likelihood of relapse shows a positive correlation with the frequency of previously served prison terms–with 63.3% rate recorded among prisoners with 3 or more precedents–compared with 16.1% among prisoners who had never previously served time, according to the study.
The case law factor remains the most important determinant affecting the phenomenon of recidivism, followed by demographic data such as family status, type of the crime committed, duration of detention, education attained, occupation, nationality, as well as whether the individual in question had ever received the benefit of release under a King Pardon.
Morocco is well positioned within this realm when compared to some developed countries. The Kingdom’s recidivism rate has been 18.4% over the past two years, compared to 43% in Canada, 45% in Australia, 25% in South Korea, and 30% in Spain.
The DGAPR devised this study to better align public policies with best practice measures in rehabilitation and reintegration, thus enabling sociologists and criminology professionals to have more accurate data on the phenomenon of recidivism.