2 Status with repeat offenses by serious offenders

The repeat offense rate of research subjects (with the research subjects to repeat an offense refers to being sentenced to imprisonment or a heavier punishment in a final judgment for an offense excluding negligence in vehicle driving / negligence in the pursuit of social activities causing death or injury and violations of traffic related acts committed within about 10 years of being released from a penal institution) was 17% for homicide, 33% for injury causing death, 39% for robbery, 39% for rape, and 26% for arson (See Fig. 7-2-3-1-1).

The difference between those released on completion of their term of imprisonment and those released on parole in the repeat offense rate was large. The repeat offense rate of those released on completion of their term of imprisonment was 43% for homicide, 60% for injury causing death, 56% for robbery, 56% for rape, and 34% for arson, thus indicating that more than half of them repeated the offenses for injury causing death, robbery, and rape (See Fig. 7-2-3-2-17; See Fig. 7-1-3-3 for the cumulative percentage of reimprisonment within 10 years of inmates for serious offenses released in 2000).

Limiting the type of repeat offense results in the rate of repeated serious offenses of the same type being 0.8% for homicide, 3.9% for injury causing death, 8.3% for robbery, 9.4% for rape, and 7.5% for arson (See Fig. 7-2-3-1-1), thus indicating the relatively high rates for robbery, rape, and arson. For rape, in particular, the repeat offense status is quite serious as the repeat offense rate with sexual offenses including forcible indecency was 16% and when rape at the scene of a robbery was included 17%. In addition, for homicide and injury causing death, the repeat offense rate involving violent offenses (including homicide and injury causing death; hereinafter the same in this section) and property offenses was high (5.5% and 7.6% respectively for homicide and 21% and 13% respectively for injury causing death). For robbery and rape the repeat offense rate for property offenses was also high (25% and 17%, respectively) (See Table 7-2-3-1-2).

Examining the period until serious offenders repeated offenses after being released in 2000 revealed that the percentage of those reimprisoned for the first time after six years or more from being released of those reimprisoned within 10 years after being released was significantly higher for homicide (23%), injury causing death (27%), robbery (21%), and rape (26%) than that of all released inmates (14%), thus indicating the relatively high risk of a repeat offense tending to remain for a long period of time with these offenses (see Fig. 7-1-3-3).