Study: house arrest lowers relapse rate

Oslo.Illustration: Ankle monitoring .Photo: Hakon Mosvold Larsen / NTB scanpix

Offenders serving sentanced with a ankle monitoring device have lower recurrence rates than persons serving short sentences in prison, according to a study.

Persons sentenced to penalties under four months or less than four months left to serve, may apply to have the ankle monitoring device fitted. When fitted the device allows one to serve their sentance at home instead of in jail, and it is possible to go to work or school.

Researchers have looked at those who are sentenced to 120 days in jail or less, and they see that there is less recidivism for those with ankle bracelet, writes the Norwegian Research Council in an article published on forskning.no.

– We find a reduction of 10 percent in new offenses from before to after the introduction of this program says Synøve Andersen, a researcher at Statistics Norway and who now takes a doctorate on the subject.

Among those who committed new offenses, researchers found no difference between those who served in prison and those who served with ankle bracelets, now it came to how serious or how many crimes they had committed.

– Among those who commit new crimes, the behavior is quite similar, says Andersen.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today