Japan the punitive sanctions tend to be more important. The conditions in prison are harsh and some of the interrogated offenders have their rights disregarded. However, Japan has decreased their criminal recidivism rate. Criminal Recidivism is repetition of criminal behavior by an offender previously convicted and punished for an offence. It is also a measure of the effectiveness of rehabilitation programs or the deterrent effect of punishment. Explaining recidivism in the U.S, the labeling or secondary deviance perspective has some merit to go with it. Individuals in both countries have common point of views that are unique to their own cultures. As part of the individualism enforced in the United States, individuals are taught to seek self-importance and personal autonomy. One learns that he or she is not supposed to submit to others but should always try to ascend above and beyond others. The offender surfaces in the weak relationship built between the individual and the society in which it requires them to accept authority. The offender is usually prepared to test their social power and have a negative response in order to prove that they are still more important than society itself. Opposite to the conventional labeling perspective which is said to promote secondary deviance, social reaction actually provides for aggravating secondary deviance. In Japan, an individual appreciates the society in which he was born and raised. That tendency comes from what is learned culturally about integration with the society. The social reaction towards offenders in Japan has slighter recidivist consequences rather than in the United States. See also Interactionism Labelling theory Primary Deviance Edwin Lemert Erving Goffman Deviance (sociology) Drug addiction Recidivism References Sociological terminology Deviance (sociology)