Prisoner Reentry Research Articles

Veiling Religion: The Public Face of Czech Re-Entry Faith-Based Organizations.

Due to the lack of sufficient non-governmental prisoner re-entry services in the Czech Republic, many post-release activities are provided by faith-based organizations (FBOs). However, the Czech Republic is considered to be one of the most atheistic countries in the world. Most of the Czech population is at least apathetic toward organized religion. This study examines how re-entry FBOs present Christianity to the public in the religiously indifferent Czech Republic. The primary focus is on how the organizations present themselves to the public. We employ qualitative content analysis examining names, logos, mission statements, and other documents of 14 re-entry FBOs. The analysis reveals four general themes within the organizations' public presentations: Ambiguity when expressing religious topics, Christianity as an offer, Christianity as a form of social movement (self-legitimization), and Christianity as a pro-social lifestyle.

Violent Victimization During Reentry: Prevalence, Triggers, and Impact on Mental Health

Victimization is associated with a cascade of negative outcomes, and the literature has been enriched by research that situates victimization in the life context of key social groups such as children, youth, women, and veterans. Yet, less is known about violent victimization in the context of prisoner reentry. Using longitudinal data documenting reentry experiences, the current study examines the prevalence, triggers and impact of victimization among returning citizens with specific attention given to mental health outcomes. Longitudinal multilevel modeling is employed to estimate the heterogenous victimization experiences among respondents as well as the temporal change in victimization over the follow-up period of a respondent. Results underscore an alarmingly high rate of victimization against returning citizens. Risky neighborhood and family environments are significant predictors of their victimization. Upon victimization, the respondents’ mental health deteriorates. Policy implications and directions for the future research are provided.

Desistance and Prisoner Re-entry: A Real-time Perspective

Desistance and Prisoner Re-entry: A Real-time Perspective

Community Transition Goal Setting for Adults in Long-Term Prison: Reentry Needs of People Sentenced as Juveniles to Life Without the Option of Parole

Abstract Date Presented 04/02/2022 OT is an emerging practice area in criminal justice and rarely applied with people sentenced to life as juveniles, who have served more than 25 years and have new potential for parole. A review of 21 OT evaluations revealed 85 different occupational performance goals and related barriers (n = 18) and facilitators (n = 12) to preparing for release. The complexities of setting goals to address prison-to-community transition are explored, along with implications for OT needs in prison reentry services. Primary Author and Speaker: Lisa Jaegers Additional Authors and Speakers: Christine Picker, Jessica Neff, Mackenzie Murphy, Serena Blank, Grace Kanary, Natalie Schur Contributing Authors: Karen Barney

The Role of Offender Reintegration on Recidivism in Kakamega County, Kenya

The International Centre for Prison Studies estimates that as of August 2016, over 11 million people were held in prison custody throughout the world. In spite of interventions by corrections to enable offenders to live crime-free lives after a period of incarceration, ex-convicts been exposed to the criminal justice system through either being re-arrested, re-convicted or re-incarcerated again and again, suggesting that the treatments and support systems they receive in and out of prison are either ineffective or non-existent. Since the founding of jails, people have faced challenges in transitioning from incarceration in penal facilities to liberty in the streets. The act of offenders encountering the criminal justice system after their release, whether through technical violations or new offences finds expression in the concept of recidivism. This study sought to investigate the role of offender reintegration on recidivism in Kakamega County, Kenya. The study adopted a survey research design in which 384 recidivists were sampled to take part in the study as respondents. Besides the recidivist, 25 Prison Officers,13 Probation Officers, 27 family members of recidivists, and 18 community members from the neighbourhoods of recidivists bringing the target sample to 467 respondents. Out of the 467 targeted respondents, 412 participate in the study by way of adequately responding to items in the data collection instruments. This gives the study a response rate of 88.22 percent. Both probabilistic and non-probabilistic sampling techniques were used in sample selection. Data from respondents was collected using a questionnaire that was tested for validity and reliability prior to the actual data collection. Factor analysis was used to ascertain validity while Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient of reliability was used to ascertain reliability of the questionnaire. Findings revealed a significant relationship between offender reintegration and recidivism among released prisoners in Kakamega County, Kenya (r=0.541; P< 0.01). The coefficient of determination (R 2 ) was 0.682 meaning that post-release treatment, ability to secure a job after release, access and use of certificate of good conduct, residence after release, vocational training while in prison and interaction with hard-core criminals while in prison account for 68.2% of variation in recidivism among released prisoners in Kakamega County, Kenya. In light of the study findings, it is recommended that the government and the various correctional stakeholders should come up with an integrated approach that specifically targets successful reentry of offenders upon release from prison. Keywords: Offender Reintegration, Recidivism DOI: 10.7176/DCS/12-2-04 Publication date: February 28 th 2022

Factors of Recidivism among Reintegrated Inmates in Kenya

Statistics throughout the globe suggest that most prisoners coming out of prison are likely to be re-sentenced within three years of their release. Research continue to find that almost 80 percent of prisoners are likely to be rearrested within a decade of being free. Rearrests around the world may occur within the first year of release if no support is given to the offender. High recurrence rates mean more violence, more victims, and more criminal justice system stress. Recidivism is a technical term which, when loosely understood, bypasses the major problem it faces, the problem of continuity of criminal behaviour. Recidivism remains a concern for Kenyan authorities. In this article we examine the influence of offender characteristics, offender reintegration, and community perceptions and attitudes regarding recidivism in Kakamega County, Kenya. The study applied a survey research design. The study adopted a survey research design in which 384 recidivists were sampled to take part in the study as respondents. Besides the recidivist, 25 Prison Officers,13 Probation Officers, 27 family members of recidivists, and 18 community members from the neighbourhoods of recidivists bringing the target sample to 467 respondents. Both probabilistic and non-probabilistic sampling techniques were used in sample selection. Data from respondents was collected using a questionnaire that was tested for validity and reliability prior to the actual data collection. Factor analysis was used to ascertain validity while Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient of reliability was used to ascertain reliability of the questionnaireFindings reveal a statistically significant relationship between offender characteristics and recidivism, while offender reintegration and community perceptions and attitudes towards offenders are found to greatly influence recidivism. From the study, it is recommended that correctional officers use the actuarial risk assessment model to predict the future probability of recidivism. It is recommended that the various correctional stakeholders develop an integrated approach that specifically targets successful re-entry of offenders upon release, while programmes must be developed to target community awareness to desist from stigmatising ex-offenders. Keywords: Recidivism; Kenya prisons; reintegrated inmates; Kakamega County; offender characteristics; community awareness; actuarial risk assessment model DOI: 10.7176/JLPG/118-14 Publication date: February 28 th 2022

The association between offenders’ and spouses’ anger, dysfunctional communication, and family cohesion and adaptability in prisoner reentry: An actor-partner interdependence mediation model

The association between offenders’ and spouses’ anger, dysfunctional communication, and family cohesion and adaptability in prisoner reentry: An actor-partner interdependence mediation model

Organic Intellectuals in the Prison: Reports from the Flying University on Philosophy as Public Practice

The Flying University, a prison education and reentry program that brings university students inside the prison for mutual and collaborative study, convenes with the assumed understanding that incarcerated peoples bear rich critical perspectives on the state of our communities as well as a philosophical potential to muster the resources necessary to heal communities in the wake of historical violence and transgenerational trauma. Rather than bringing incarcerated students into the purview of academic philosophy, the Flying University reverses these roles by recognizing that incarcerated peoples engage in daily philosophical scrutiny about a whole range of topics that traditional academic philosophy too often fails to comprehend with any depth. The Flying University enacts precollege philosophy as public practice by facilitating semester-long seminars that bring professional philosophers and university students into the prison—not so they can teach prisoners but listen to them. The guiding critical assumption of this practice follows Antonio Gramsci’s argument that what distinguishes “philosophers” from their opposite has less to do with intellectual activity and perspective and more to do with social status and credentials. A genuinely restorative philosophical praxis must solicit, within our community dialogues, the stories and voices of our incarcerated neighbors as “organic intellectuals.”

A Cautionary Tale of a Prisoner Re-entry Initiative: Lessons Learned

A Cautionary Tale of a Prisoner Re-entry Initiative: Lessons Learned

Dynamic risk factors reassessed regularly after release from incarceration predict imminent violent recidivism.

In community-based corrections, reassessment of dynamic risk factors improves the prediction of recidivism relative to initial risk assessment at the time of release. However, there is less evidence for predictions of violent recidivism. We examined whether reassessment proximity or aggregation of reassessments improved the prediction of imminent violence in a sample of paroled individuals on community supervision. We hypothesized that reassessment of dynamic risk would better predict violent recidivism than initial risk assessment at the time of release. Examination of aggregation and individual risk-factor domains was exploratory. In a prospective study of violent recidivism in a sample of individuals on community supervision in New Zealand (75,917 assessments from 3,421 participants; 92.8% men), we used supervision officers' ratings of dynamic risk (assessed using Dynamic Risk Assessment for Offender Re-entry [DRAOR]) and static risk scores (using the Risk of ReConviction × Risk of Imprisonment) to predict imminent violence (within 2 weeks). Individuals who recidivated violently had higher initial risk ratings (DRAOR Stable d = 0.36, 95% CI [0.17, 0.55]; DRAOR Acute d = 0.45, 95% CI [0.26, 0.64]) and showed more week-to-week fluctuations in risk ratings (DRAOR Stable d = 0.21, 95% CI [0.04, 0.41]; DRAOR Acute d = 0.26, 95% CI [0.06,0.46]). Total averages of faster-changing acute risk factors best predicted violence (c-index = 0.68), with changes in these factors incrementally predicting violence over well-established predictors (criminal history) and initial scores (Δχ2 = 15.54, df = 3). The constructs that best discriminated violence were consistent with social cognition explanations of violence. Because client consistency as determined through score aggregation was more important than current presentation, supervision officers should consider overall patterns of interpersonal hostility and reactivity rather than assuming the emerging presence of these factors will signal imminent violence among previously violent individuals. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

How families respond to the collateral consequences of incarceration and prisoner reentry

AbstractObjectiveThe goal of this research was to investigate the ways in which families respond to the collateral consequences of incarceration and reentry.BackgroundAlthough scholars have extensively documented the collateral consequences of mass incarceration for individuals, far less attention has been paid to families, particularly the adult relatives of incarcerated or formerly incarcerated persons who are the primary social support agents.MethodThe current study draws from 24 in‐depth, semistructured interviews with the parents, siblings, romantic partners, and other relatives of formerly incarcerated persons in an urban, mid‐sized Midwestern city. We employed a multistage qualitative analysis.ResultsThe analysis revealed 10 stress‐induced responses among families. These responses largely involved individuals' self‐reliance on their personal efficacy, some reflecting maladaptive responses, while having limited external or formal supports on which to rely when facing strains from familial incarceration.ImplicationFindings suggest that the significant socioeconomic and psychological tax families pay when supporting a justice system–involved relative compromises their well‐being. This study has the potential to inform treatment, research, practices, and policies involving families that are affected by incarceration.

Rethinking Prisoner Reentry

With a focus on reentry after prison, we formulate an evidence-supported action plan for enhancing transitions from prison to society that focuses on increasing independence, reducing racial and ethnic disparities, and achieving public safety. Prisoner re-entry is a critical piece of any racial justice agenda as the lack of education or vocational training within carcer institutions impose barriers to job opportunities that, coupled with societal stigmas, often make reintegration extremely challenging. Noting that changes in policies with significant potential to improve reentry outcomes extend beyond federal agencies traditionally involved in the administration of justice, we include ways to reduce reentry barriers such as housing, education, employment, health, and political rights. The paper is divided into short, medium and long-term recommendations. The short-term recommendations pertain to existing funding streams and discretionary authority regarding administrative rules and regulations, funding decisions, and rule enforcement. Medium-term recommendations involve the creation of new legislation, infrastructure, and funding appropriations. In the long-term, recommendations include changes in laws to achieve fundamental re-orientations of existing policy frameworks, and approaches that require substantial new funding appropriations.

Got Faith? - An in-depth analysis and review of five faith-based prisoner reentry programs in Florida

In the United States, prisoner reentry programs are a necessity to re-integrate back into society and are of two types: Faith and Non-Faith. With increased emphasis placed on reforming the criminal justice system policies due to Black Lives Matter and other non-profits actively working to change the system from the outside, reentry programs are having a resurgence of interest for effective public policy. There are significant barriers for major policies at the state, local, and federal to be alleviated, nevertheless, our research wanted to consider the effectiveness of five faith-based, male-only reentry programs in central Florida. Small focus groups were utilized to better understand the concerns and issues returning inmates faced in the program as well as when returning to society. Reentry participants were found to have high confidence in the success of their participation in their faith-based program’s efforts on their personal and family growth.

Guide to Social Work Intervention for Community Re-entry of Offenders With a History of Violence Against Individuals

Objective: The re-entry of offenders to the community after their imprisonment is a sensitive and important stage and should always be considered by governmental and non-governmental organizations. The proper transition from prison to the community occurs when rehabilitation and social reintegration programs are developed and implemented based on the real needs of individuals. Social work is one of the professions that can help the judicial system with this issue. Many graduates of this profession provide social work services to prisoners and their families. Therefore, it is necessary to identify effective operational solutions in accordance with the conditions of the country and formulate a specific framework. This study aims to prepare a guideline for specialized social work intervention for community re-entry of offenders with a history of violence against individuals. Materials & Methods: In this study, a qualitative approach was used to prepare the specialized guideline. First, the initial barriers and facilitators of successful community re-entry for offenders with a history of violence against individuals were prepared using thematic analysis. Then, based on the protocols of the social work process, the initial draft was developed. Next, at a focus group discussion session with faculty members and experts, the draft was reviewed and improved. To assess its applicability, we used the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE) tool. Results: Intertwined concerns, protective shields, welfare/economic security, social support, and achieving relative independence were identified as the five dimensions of successful community re-entry. The specialized social work interventions were presented after approval in four main stages: preparation for the case plan, development of the case plan, interventions and actions, and monitoring and review of interventions. The results of evaluation by AGREE tool showed an overall acceptable average of 58.7% (82.9% for scope and purpose, 88.1% for stakeholder involvement, 85.6% for rigor of development, 83% for clarity of presentation, 84.9% for applicability, and 89.8% for editorial independence). The users of this guideline are social workers and other professions related to prisons and training and security organizations, especially after-release care centers. Conclusion: Investing in rehabilitation programs for prisoners is one of the best and most cost-effective ways to prevent the reoccurrence of violence, which not only has beneficial effects on those concerned but also promotes public safety. This issue becomes important when social reintegration and rehabilitation programs are developed based on scientific approaches and perspectives. Future studies on the effectiveness of the developed guideline, considering the local conditions, can help identify the effective factors of re-entry to the community in newly released prisoners. The skills and capabilities of social workers in presenting specialized interventions and establishing professional and inter-organizational communication, supporting rules and programs, motivation, and enthusiasm of the offender to change can all contribute to the success of this guideline in achieving the defined goals.

An Assessment of Prisoner Reentry, Legal Financial Obligations and Family Financial Support: A Focus on Fathers.

Scholars have found that family support is an important facilitator of successful reentry from prison to the community. At the same time, they have argued that owing court-ordered fines or fees, also called legal financial obligations (LFOs), can act as an additional barrier to reentry, especially for parents. There remains a need to test how LFOs impact the financial support formerly incarcerated parents receive from their families. The current study responds to this gap by employing logistic regression analyses of the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative (SVORI) data to test whether owing court fees is associated with formerly incarcerated fathers’ (1) perceptions of available financial support from family and (2) receipt of financial support from family. We find that owing court fees is not associated with perceptions of available financial support. However, owing court fees has a positive, statistically significant association with receiving financial support from family during the first three months after prison release. This relationship remains after accounting for whether the person owes child support or sees their children monthly. Our results suggest that LFOs may create a greater need for financial support among formerly incarcerated fathers, making the financial challenges of reentry a consequence not just for those who were incarcerated but for their loved ones as well.

An Assessment of Prisoner Reentry, Legal Financial Obligations and Family Financial Support: A Focus on Fathers

Scholars have found that family support is an important facilitator of successful reentry from prison to the community. At the same time, they have argued that owing court-ordered fines or fees, also called legal financial obligations (LFOs), can act as an additional barrier to reentry, especially for parents. There remains a need to test how LFOs impact the financial support formerly incarcerated parents receive from their families. The current study responds to this gap by employing logistic regression analyses of the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative (SVORI) data to test whether owing court fees is associated with formerly incarcerated fathers’ (1) perceptions of available financial support from family and (2) receipt of financial support from family. We find that owing court fees is not associated with perceptions of available financial support. However, owing court fees has a positive, statistically significant association with receiving financial support from family during the first three months after prison release. This relationship remains after accounting for whether the person owes child support or sees their children monthly. Our results suggest that LFOs may create a greater need for financial support among formerly incarcerated fathers, making the financial challenges of reentry a consequence not just for those who were incarcerated but for their loved ones as well.

Struggling to Make Good: The Dilemmas of Fatherhood for Formerly Incarcerated African American Men

While some have argued that absent low socioeconomic status black fathers are to blame for urban crime and poverty, others have highlighted how mass incarceration disproportionately separates low socioeconomic status black fathers from their children. Less frequently heard and acknowledged in the public conversations about low socioeconomic status black fatherhood and mass incarceration are the voices of those same fathers who have been impacted by the system. How do formerly incarcerated black fathers view their role as fathers? Based on 30 interviews of formerly incarcerated black men recruited from a prisoner reentry organization in a large northeastern city in the United States, we found that interviewees talked about fatherhood in two different ways. On the one hand, our most common finding was that interviewees talked about fatherhood as a motivation for desistance from criminal activity. In this finding they connected provider roles and being present in the lives of their children with their planned desistance from crime. On the other hand, interviewees also mentioned fatherhood as a part of explanations for past criminal activity, in what we call strain narratives. In these stories, they typically mentioned their provider roles as fathers as part of the overall economic strain that they faced. Counter to the dominant cultural impression of low socioeconomic status black fathers as absent/uncaring, both the desistance and strain narratives demonstrated a considerable amount of concern with respect to their identities as fathers, and therefore as men. We argue for the significance of masculinity in explaining the fatherhood narratives of formerly incarcerated black men. In doing so, we build on previous qualitative work on low-income fathers, crime as doing gender, and desistance narratives in prisoner reentry.

The Minimum Wage, EITC, and Criminal Recidivism

For recently released prisoners, the minimum wage and the availability of state Earned Income Tax Credits (EITCs) can influence both their ability to find employment and their potential legal wages relative to illegal sources of income, in turn affecting the probability they return to prison. Using administrative prison release records from nearly six million offenders released between 2000 and 2014, we use a difference-in-differences strategy to identify the effect of over two hundred state and federal minimum wage increases, as well as 21 state EITC programs, on recidivism. We find that the average minimum wage increase of $0.50 reduces the probability that men and women return to prison within 1 year by 2.8%. This implies that on average the effect of higher wages, drawing at least some released prisoners into the legal labor market, dominates any reduced employment in this population due to the minimum wage. These reductions in returns to incarcerations are observed for the potentially revenue generating crime categories of property and drug crimes; prison reentry for violent crimes are unchanged, supporting our framing that minimum wages affect crime that serves as a source of income. The availability of state EITCs also reduces recidivism, but only for women.

Peer-focused prison reentry programs: Which peer characteristics matter most?

Over the past two decades, recidivism rates have remained relatively stable, leading practitioners to explore innovative reentry solutions. One reentry model, based on the concept of peer mentorship, has received renewed attention. Unfortunately, little is known about which peer characteristics make mentors most effective in a prison setting. This study uses participant observation and semi-structured interviews, embedded with survey questions, to understand which “peer” characteristics prison staff, peer mentors, and mentees perceive as the most important. Analysis of survey data also suggests that a history of incarceration is perceived as the most important characteristic for peer mentors in a reentry context. Additionally, the qualitative analysis reveals that mentors need to be perceived as credible to be effective role models for reentry. This credibility was almost exclusively linked to a lived experience of incarceration. Peer mentorship remains a viable option for improving reentry outcomes, but hiring the appropriate, credible peers is essential for effective implementation.

Father Involvement in the First Year After Prison: Considerations for Social Work

Purpose: Paternal incarceration poses significant concerns for fathers and their children. Despite the known negative consequences, little is understood about father involvement after prison. This study aims to further understanding of fatherhood following incarceration to inform future intervention strategies. Method: Using data from the Urban Institute’s Returning Home: Understanding the Challenges of Prisoner Reentry Study ( N = 326), we conduct bivariate and multivariate analyses to examine three dimensions of father involvement and predictors of involvement at two time points after prison. Results: Findings reveal generally high levels of father involvement in the first year following incarceration. Father-child contact during prison and increased work hours after prison showed positive effects on early father involvement, while post-prison engagement and contact following release were associated with later involvement. Conclusions: Promoting father-child contact and positive relationships during incarceration may be important for future father involvement after release. Potential social work and criminal justice practice and research opportunities are discussed.