Victim:  For the victim, there is anger, resentment, and suffering that also extends to family and friends.  The internalization of the crime has a long-term impact on the victim, family, and friends. Time and money are frequently spent on counseling, relationships end, children are impacted, social service funds are used, etc.   In some cases, the victim will become the offender.   Offender:  For offenders, the ripple effect is clear when looking at recidivism rates of 50% and more. Statistics like this are not acceptable for society and ultimately may drive legislation toward one end of the spectrum or the other -  "lock them up and throw away the key" or "prevent crime and reform prisoners."  Human rights is the obvious argument against "throwing away the key" but it should also be the argument against our current high recidivism rates.     Social:  Having addressed the victim and the offender, the less obvious cost is that of our social conscious and values.  If we acknowledge that by accepting recidivism without working for change, we are throwing away the key and committing many to a life of crime and incarceration.     The U.S. Department of Justice states, based on current rates of first incarceration, the number of males that will enter State or Federal prison during their lifetime is 1 of 3 black, 1 of 6 Hispanic, and 1 of 17 white.  With regards to human rights and social obligation, some strong inferences and social comments could be drawn from these statistics and trends.  There are many restorative justice programs and especially re-entry programs that understand the socioeconomic conditions that contributed to crime and have dramatically reduced recidivism with equal success across race.

Financial Cost:  Between the years 1982 and 1999, the amount spent on criminal justice climbed 218% for municipalities, 310% for counties, 369% for states, and 410% for the federal government. The national average cost to house a prisoner varies by state between $40 and $60 per day.  With an average cost per day of incarceration of $50 and approximately 2,166 million incarcerated, the cost to our society is approximately $40 billion per year.   It is one thing for society to pay for the cost of the first incarceration but another to pay for the cycle of re-incarcerations and the ripple effect caused by the associated crime.  Reducing recidivism means reducing crime and the cost to society of those crimes.  Recidivism accounts for as much as 50% of the annual $40 billion for housing as well as 50% of the crimes and other associated costs.    The national recidivism re-arrest rate is 67.5% and the incarceration rate is 51.6%.  But those statistics are based on the first 3 years of release and we know not every crime is reported and thus the crime rate is higher.   The impact of reducing recidivism is staggering.  If, as a community, we can reduce recidivism by as little as 1% then we may reduce the $40 billion per year cost by ½% or $200,000,000 annually.  However, if we move restorative justice into the mainstream of our society, and reduce recidivism to 40% that may reduce the $40 billion per year cost by 5% or $1,000,000,000 annually.  It is critical not to forget the less tangible costs (suffering, counseling, social service, property loss, insurance, judicial system, etc) of crime and that multiple crimes are committed before re-arrest.