Book•
But They All Come Back: Facing the Challenges of Prisoner Reentry
12 Apr 2005-
TL;DR: Travis as mentioned in this paper proposes organizing the criminal justice system around five principles of reentry to encourage change and spur innovation, and argues that the impact of returning prisoners on families and communities has been largely overlooked.
Abstract: As our justice system has embarked upon one of our time's greatest social experiments?responding to crime by expanding prisons?we have forgotten the iron law of imprisonment: they all come back. In 2002, more than 630,000 individuals left federal and state prisons. Thirty years ago, only 150,000 did. In the intense political debate over America's punishment policies, the impact of these returning prisoners on families and communities has been largely overlooked. In But They All Come Back, Jeremy Travis continues his pioneering work on the new realities of punishment in America vis-a-vis public safety, families and children, work, housing, public health, civic identity, and community capacity. Travis proposes organizing the criminal justice system around five principles of reentry to encourage change and spur innovation.
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors used two propensity score strategies, matching and inverse probability of treatment weighting, to determine the impact of parolee residence on parole outcome, and found that both techniques were effective at decreasing the threat to internal validity allowing for greater confidence in reporting an average treatment effect.
Abstract: Previous research pertaining to parole has primarily concentrated on individual level characteristics as predictors of parole success, holding offender residency as a constant. Recently, there has been a growing realization that we need to understand how neighborhood contexts impact successful reintegration. It is difficult to evaluate the increased risk associated with neighborhood characteristics on parole revocation because residency after prison is not randomly assigned. Consequently, methodological adaptations must be made to account for selection into disadvantaged neighborhoods. To reduce overt bias, we used two propensity score strategies, matching and inverse probability of treatment weighting, to determine the impact of parolee residence on parole outcome. Our analytic strategies indicated a weaker effect for neighborhood context when compared to traditional models. In essence, we found that both techniques were effective at decreasing the threat to internal validity allowing for greater confidence in reporting an average treatment effect. The implications of our findings are discussed as well as the utility of these analyses in criminal justice research.
8 citations
TL;DR: The authors analyzed the narratives of 17 formerly incarcerated men who volunteered to participate in: (1) life story interviews, (2) focus groups and (3) semi-structured interviews, finding that for those who were on the frontline of the War on Drugs, narrating their life story was a cathartic experience and discussing collective memories of slavery and Jim Crow in a group setting became an educational momen...
Abstract: The injustices of mass incarceration and the ‘War on Drugs’ are a much debated topic in the United States. My project engages this thematic field by examining how formerly incarcerated people discuss the War on Drugs and mass incarceration. I analyze the narratives of 17 formerly incarcerated men who volunteered to participate in: (1) life story interviews, (2) focus groups and (3) semi-structured interviews. Both restorative justice and reentry have been criticized for failing to consider the social, structural, and historical inequalities for marginalized groups. I contend that my subjects’ engagement with historical and autobiographical narratives contributes to an innovative practice borrowing from restorative justice in the context of reentry. The preliminary results confirm that for those who were on the frontline of the War on Drugs, narrating their life story was a cathartic experience and discussing collective memories of slavery and Jim Crow in a group setting became an educational momen...
8 citations
Cites background from "But They All Come Back: Facing the ..."
...Studies on reentry, or post-incarceration studies, provide the voices of formerly incarcerated persons and reveal the barriers – employment, housing, social networks – to coming back home and reintegrating society (Seiter & Kadela, 2003; Travis, 2005; Visher, 2004)....
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...Most people who were incarcerated for a drug related charge will eventually be released from prison and expected to resume law-abiding lives (Travis, 2005)....
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...Scholars have denounced the collateral consequences for drug related offenders, such as denying access to welfare, housing, and financial aid, thus exasperating their chances of leading law-abiding lives (Chesney-Lind & Mauer, 2011; Travis, 2005)....
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TL;DR: In this paper, the factors predicting reentry success have received a rapidly growing body of research attention, and many studies expand beyond individual-level a priori knowledge about reentry.
Abstract: As the United States enters a decarceration era, the factors predicting reentry success have received a rapidly growing body of research attention. Numerous studies expand beyond individual-level a...
8 citations
Cites background from "But They All Come Back: Facing the ..."
...However, many individuals face severe difficulty in reestablishing broken family ties when reentering the community (e.g., Liu & Visher, 2019; Travis, 2005)....
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...To understand this finding, we should consider the primary needs many released prisoners have: finding a home, acquiring a job, attending education programs, and honing job skills (Phillips & Lindsay, 2011; Travis, 2005; Visher et al., 2004, 2011)....
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors report process evaluation findings for the Louisiana 22nd Judicial District Reentry Court program, a joint SAMHSA/BJA-sponsored multiphase programming intervention for high-risk/high-need offenders featuring job readiness training in the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola and transition services during reentry, including program engagement, job placement, and treatment services continuation in the community under strict judicial supervision.
Abstract: Reentry programs, when adequately funded and delivered with fidelity, can render recidivism reduction and other positive outcomes such as abstinence and employment stability. This paper reports process evaluation findings for the Louisiana 22nd Judicial District Reentry Court program, a joint SAMHSA/BJA-sponsored multiphase programming intervention for high-risk/high-need offenders featuring job readiness training in the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola and transition services during reentry, including program engagement, job placement, and treatment services continuation in the community under strict judicial supervision. Research procedures entailed 1) observation of court appearances, treatment team meetings, educational activities, and counseling sessions, 2) review of all program participant case files enabling progress tracking, and 3) in-depth and focus group interviews with program stakeholders both at Angola and post-release in community settings. Findings relate the evidence based nature and quality of services delivery to date, as well as fidelity demonstrated across major programmatic domains. Program improvement opportunities, outcome evaluation implications, and performance measures signaling early success center discussion around vanguard elements of the court and evaluation design, respectively.
8 citations
TL;DR: Analysis of racial differences in post-prison employment by industry and geography finds that the formerly incarcerated are most likely to find work in a small number of "felon-friendly" industries with formerly incarcerated whites having higher employment rates than blacks.
Abstract: Research on racial disparities in post-prison employment has primarily focused on the differential effects of stigma on blacks and whites, but we otherwise know little about racial differences. This paper examines racial differences in post-prison employment by industry and geography. We find that the formerly incarcerated are most likely to find work in a small number of "felon-friendly" industries with formerly incarcerated whites having higher employment rates than blacks. Whites are more likely to be employed in felon-friendly industries associated with the primary labor market, particularly construction and manufacturing, which have higher wages and more job stability. To explain these racial differences, we investigate the degree to which employment among the formerly incarcerated is related to where felon-friendly employers are located and where individuals who work in felon-friendly industries live. We find that post-prison employment is associated more with proximity to workers in felon-friendly industries than with proximity to employers. Because formerly incarcerated whites are more likely to live near current workers in felon-friendly industries, the geography of opportunity in the post-prison labor market contributes to the racial disparity in post-prison employment.
8 citations