The overall two-year recidivism rates for women have also been consistently falling over the past five years of release cohorts, from 19.1 per cent for the 2018 cohort to 13 per cent for the 2022 cohort, said SPS.
It attributed this to its gender specific correctional approach with female inmates, including understanding the offending pathways for them and providing rehabilitation programmes, to reintegrate them into society.
Singapore’s overall five-year recidivism rate continued to fall over the past five years of release cohorts, from 41.7 per cent for the 2015 cohort to 36.6 per cent for the 2019 cohort. The rate also fell below 40 per cent for the third consecutive year, said SPS.
The five-year recidivism rate for DRC inmates also improved from 48.9 per cent for the 2015 release cohort to 43 per cent for the 2019 cohort – a figure SPS noted is higher than the overall recidivism rate.
However, it said that the improvement is still “testament to the rehabilitation and community reintegration efforts” of SPS and its community partners, as more ex-offenders are able to desist from crime and drugs for the longer term.
SPS said that inmates with drug antecedents – those with at least one prior drug conviction – were about three times more likely to reoffend than those without.
Repeat drug abusers also “typically had weak social support and faced challenges in building a strong support network after their discharge from the DRC into the community”, a 2021 SPS study found.
It was thus “crucial to increase the social and community capital of drug abusers within a throughcare ecosystem to support their successful rehabilitation and reintegration,” said the prison service.
SUPPORT REINTEGRATION, INCREASE EMPLOYABILITY
SPS works with Yellow Ribbon Singapore, community partners and volunteers to help with the rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders.
The prison service said it has been actively engaging and increasing its volunteer manpower over the years, from 2,400 volunteers in 2021 to over 4,200 in 2024.
Volunteers will be trained in SPS’ correctional work, including learning how to work with inmates, ex-offenders and their communities.
Yellow Ribbon Singapore also helps increase the employability of inmates and ex-offenders through skills training, career placement and career retention.
Last year, 3,973 inmates were trained, with an average of 102 training hours per person – a 28 per cent increase in training hours from 2023, said SPS.
This was due to longer and more comprehensive training programmes, as well as new courses in the food services and retail sectors, added the prison service.
The number of employers who support the hiring of ex-offenders increased from 6,516 in 2023 to 6,712 last year.
