ABSTRACT
The recidivism outcomes of juvenile homicide offenders (JHOs) have been examined by researchers since the early 1970s. This issue is particularly important in light of several recent US Supreme Court rulings that have increased JHOs’ likelihood of being released from prison at some point in their lives. This chapter reviews the current state of knowledge regarding the prevalence of recidivism among JHOs and the factors that have been shown to increase its likelihood. Research on five categories of JHOs is discussed in this chapter: general samples of incarcerated JHOs, juvenile parricide offenders, juvenile sexual homicide offenders, crime-oriented versus conflict-oriented JHOs, and treated versus untreated JHOs. Overall, the available research shows that many, if not the majority, of JHOs recidivate after their first release from incarceration. The important factors that differentiate between recidivists and non-recidivists are offender race, violence against other inmates and correctional officers in prison, length of sentence, and return to their old neighborhood after release. The implications of these findings for criminal justice policy are discussed.
