The effect of gender on violent and nonviolent recidivism: A meta-analysis

A large body of literature has been dedicated to understanding re-offending after release from prison – a phenomenon known as recidivism. A meta-analysis was conducted using fifty- seven published studies on actuarial predictors of both violent and nonviolent recidivism in men and women. The current analysis resulted in 127 effect sizes between violent recidivists and non-recidivists, and sixty-eight effect sizes between violent recidivists with nonviolent recidivists. Several variables (drug/alcohol use, age, and marriage) were predictive of recidivism. Gender differences were also observed. In men, increased violent criminal history was associated with increased violent recidivism. This effect was not true for women. In fact, longer sentences were predictive of violent re-offending in women and not men. Despite limited data on women, pursuing the predictors of recidivism in men and women independently demonstrated that gender differences exist, and supported the need for more data concerning the predictors of recidivism in women.