“That Shit Ain’t Helping Nobody”: Narratives of Exclusion and Individualism Among Criminalized Men

Abstract

ABSTRACT Reentry efforts tend to focus on individual-level factors in an attempt to transform formerly incarcerated people into law-abiding, productive, and responsible citizens. Unfortunately, evaluative research provides mixed results on the efficacy of reentry programming and ample research suggests the need to better address structural barriers to (re)integration. Less is known about how formerly incarcerated people conceptualize reentry fields. Drawing on fieldwork and interviews with 49 formerly incarcerated men, this article helps to fill such gaps. As they discussed their reentry-related experiences and aspirations, we find that interviewees embraced a particular brand of individualism – what we refer to as criminalized individualism – that reflects not only institutional scripts around responsibility, but experiences of exclusion as well. The formerly incarcerated men in this study felt isolated from decent jobs, fair societal treatment, and tangible support beyond the admonition that personal responsibility would be required to succeed. In response, they expressed a broad-based cynicism of the Prisoner Reentry Industry (PRI), and espoused inward-looking strategies for social mobility. We argue that the perspectives of formerly incarcerated people are integral for understanding the function of reentry systems today and that the individual-level focus on responsibility largely ignores the structural realities of carceral citizenship.