Prisoner reentry

Prisoner reentry is the process by which prisoners who have been released return to the community.[1] Many types of programs have been implemented with the goal of reducing recidivism and have been found to be effective for this purpose.[2][3] Consideration for the conditions of the communities formerly incarcerated individuals are re-entering, which are often disadvantaged, is a fundamental part of successful re-entry.[4]

A 2006 study done by the Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation[5] statistically evaluated the effectiveness of prisoner reentry programs on the criteria scale of working, not working, promising, and unknown. Findings classify employment-oriented programs as working, drug rehabilitation programs as working, educational programs as promising, and halfway house programs as working.[6]

A 2015 article from The New York Times Magazine commented, "It wasn't until the mid-2000s that this looming 'prisoner re-entry crisis' became a fixation of sociologists and policy makers, generating a torrent of research, government programs, task forces, nonprofit initiatives and conferences now known as the 're-entry movement'."[7] At the end of 2001, there were approximately 5.6 million U.S. adults who had been in the incarceration system.[8] By the end of 2004, more than 3% of U.S. adults were incarcerated or on probation or parole.[8] With prisons becoming overcrowded, there is more political focus on depopulating prisons. In 2016, approximately 600,000 individuals were released from prison and millions were in and out of county jail systems.[9]

The abrupt re-entrance into society means formerly incarcerated individuals require support to reintegrate. The United States federal government allocates some funding for re-entry programs, but there is currently a lack of sufficient resources. Re-entry programs are now receiving more attention from public policy and criminal justice scholars.[10]

  1. ^ Travis, Jeremy; et al. (1 June 2001). "From Prison to Home: The Dimensions and Consequences of Prisoner Reentry". Urban Institute. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.212.6235.
  2. ^ Seiter, Richard P.; Kadela, Karen R. (1 July 2003). "Prisoner Reentry: What Works, What Does Not, and What Is Promising". Crime & Delinquency. 49 (3): 360–388. doi:10.1177/0011128703049003002. S2CID 55736383.
  3. ^ Petersilia, Joan (2004). "What Works in Prisoner Reentry - Reviewing and Questioning the Evidence". Federal Probation Journal. 68 (2).
  4. ^ Travis, Jeremy (October 1999). "Prisons, Work, and Re-Entry". Corrections Today. 61: 102–105, 133.
  5. ^ "MDRC | Building knowledge to improve social policy". 2018.
  6. ^ Seiter, Richard (January 2004). "Inmate Re-Entry: What Works and What to Do About It". American Correctional Association. 29: 1–5, 33–35.
  7. ^ Mooallem, Jon (2015-07-16). "You Just Got Out of Prison. Now What?". The New York Times Magazine. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-11-28.
  8. ^ a b Binswanger, Ingrid A.; Stern, Marc F.; Deyo, Richard A.; Heagerty, Patrick J.; Cheadle, Allen; Elmore, Joann G.; Koepsell, Thomas D. (2007-01-11). "Release from Prison — A High Risk of Death for Former Inmates". The New England Journal of Medicine. 356 (2): 157–165. doi:10.1056/NEJMsa064115. ISSN 0028-4793. PMC 2836121. PMID 17215533.
  9. ^ Semenza, Daniel C.; Link, Nathan W. (2019-12-01). "How does reentry get under the skin? Cumulative reintegration barriers and health in a sample of recently incarcerated men". Social Science & Medicine. 243: 112618. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.112618. ISSN 0277-9536. PMID 31665655. S2CID 204965417.
  10. ^ Seiter, Richard P.; Kadela, Karen R. (1 July 2003). "Prisoner Reentry: What Works, What Does Not, and What Is Promising". Crime & Delinquency. 49 (3): 360–388. doi:10.1177/0011128703049003002. S2CID 55736383.