recidivism vs lapse

recidivism and lapse both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
recidivism	Yes	No	No	No
lapse	Yes	No	Yes	No

As nouns, lapse is a hypernym of recidivism; that is, lapse is a word with a broader meaning than recidivism:

Other hypernyms of recidivism include backsliding, lapsing, relapse, relapsing, reversion, reverting.

recidivism (noun)	lapse (noun)
habitual relapse into crime	a mistake resulting from inattention
	a failure to maintain a higher state
	a break or intermission in the occurrence of something

recidivism (verb)	lapse (verb)
	go back to bad behavior
	drop to a lower level, as in one's morals or standards
	end, at least for a long time
	for time to move forward
	pass into a specified state or condition; sink into
	let slip