Journal of Science and Technology, 5(1): 107-116, January 2015 NATURE AND CAUSES OF RECIDIVISM AMONG THE PRISONERS: A STUDY ON TANGAIL DISTRICT JAIL, BANGLADESH MD. ABDUL KADER MIAH * , MOONMOON BINTA AZIZ and MD. NAJMUL HAQUE SIKDER Department of Criminology and Police Science, Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University, Tangail-1902, Bangladesh Abstract Recidivism is a serious problem in our country. It is necessary to know the causes, nature, and patterns of recidivists. This study examined the nature and causes of recidivism among prisoners in Tangail district jail. A cross-sectional research design was employed in this study. Structured questionnaires were administered to 27 prisoners, who were selected from the jail using a convenience sampling techniques. Most of the recidivists were male and average age is 30 years. Most of them were illiterate and lower class. Narcotic abuse, theft, and women and child torture and trafficking were the committed crime by recidivists. The study found that several social causes like broken family, lack of parental care, ethnicity, political contention and psychological causes like mental depravity, inferiority complex and lack of self-control are the underlying causes for recidivism. Furthermore, the phenomenon of recidivism is an outcome of many factors, including failure in parole and probation, ineffectiveness of correctional methods etc. The study recommends that to address the phenomenon of recidivism can be lessened by enhancing policing service, ensuring an appropriate, consistent and fair justice system, and by proving a safe, secure and human custodial environment as well as an effective community corrections environment. Keywords: Recidivism, prisoners, community correction Introduction Recidivism is the reversion of an individual to criminal behavior after he or she has been convicted of a prior offense, sentenced, and corrected. It results from the concatenation of failures: failure of the individual to live up to society’s expectations or failure of society to provide for the individual; a consequent failure of the individual to stay out of trouble; failure of the individual, as an offender, to escape arrest and conviction; failure of the individual as an inmate of a correctional institution to take advantage of correctional programs or failure of the institution to provide programs that rehabilitate; and additional failures by the individual in continuing in a criminal career after release. Crime is a social phenomenon. It is also an unsolvable problem ever since of human civilization, (Sirohi, 2004). According to Emile Durkheim, crime is a natural phenomenon, which is * Corresponding author: maksociology@muchomail.com