Recidivism

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Recidivism (/rɪˈsɪdɪvɪzəm/; from recidive and -ism, from Latin recidivus "recurring", from re- "back" and cado "I fall") is the act of a person repeating an undesirable behavior after they have experienced negative consequences of that behavior, or have been trained to extinguish it. Recidivism is also used to refer to the percentage of former prisoners who are rearrested for a similar offense.^[1]

The term is frequently used in conjunction with criminal behavior and substance abuse. Recidivism is a synonym for "relapse", which is more commonly used in medicine and in the disease model of addiction.^{[medical citation needed]}

Norway has one of the lowest recidivism rates in the world at 20% rearrested within 5 years versus 76.6% in the US.^[2] Prisons in Norway and the Norwegian criminal justice system focus on restorative justice and rehabilitating prisoners rather than punishment.^[2]