But They All Come Back: Facing the Challenges of Prisoner Reentry

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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.

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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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Journal Article•DOI•

Relational Vulnerabilities of Incarcerated and Reentry Mothers: Therapeutic Implications

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April L. Few-Demo¹, Joyce A. Arditti¹•Institutions (1)

Virginia Tech¹

01 Nov 2014-International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology

TL;DR: A qualitative study involving a follow-up interview with 10 incarcerated and reentry mothers in rural southwest and central Virginia was conducted to explore the influence that women’s close relationships have on their reentry experiences with their families.

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Abstract: A qualitative study involving a follow-up interview with 10 incarcerated and reentry mothers in rural southwest and central Virginia was conducted to explore the influence that women's close relationships have on their reentry experiences with their families. The Vulnerability Conceptual Model (VCM) was used to sensitize an examination of how incarcerated and reentry mothers negotiate relational vulnerabilities in the context of varying situational vulnerability. Grounded theory analysis revealed three themes that characterized relational vulnerabilities. Given our focus on close relationships and the potential of the VCM to identify opportunities for resilience and vulnerability, we highlighted the influence of ambiguous and ambivalent relationships and unresolved loss and grief due to relationship dissolution or the death of a parent, sibling, child, or intimate partner in the reentry process. The data revealed two types of reentry mothers with divergent trajectories for social reintegration. Implications of these types for therapeutic treatment approaches for reentry women are discussed.

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35 citations

Cites background from "But They All Come Back: Facing the ..."

..., work and family) of life on the outside (Travis, 2005)....
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...Desistance refers to the termination of criminal offending or “going straight” (Travis, 2005, p. 266)....
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...They must find employment while dealing with the demands and often conflicting responsibilities (i.e., work and family) of life on the outside (Travis, 2005)....
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Journal Article•DOI•

The expanding prisoner reentry industry

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Douglas E. Thompkins¹•Institutions (1)

John Jay College of Criminal Justice¹

23 Dec 2010-Dialectical Anthropology

TL;DR: The prisoner reentry industry (PRI) has become a major part of the Social Control Industrial Complex (SCCI) as mentioned in this paper, while doing little to link the formerly incarcerated person to the social capital and human skills necessary to become a "citizen".

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Abstract: The prisoner reentry industry (PRI) has become a major part of the Social Control Industrial Complex. As with the Prison Industrial Complex, the PRI is not just a collection of institutions, organizations, and interest groups (both public and private); it is also a state of mind. Developing and facilitating programs and services for the formerly incarcerated have become a huge “cash-cow,” producing profits for the PRI at the expense of the taxpayer, while doing little to link the formerly incarcerated person to the social capital and human skills necessary to become a “citizen.” Data that include the voices of the formerly incarcerated, members of their families, and criminal justice practitioners suggest that a person’s level of success during their “personal reentry experience” varies in large part, by the individual parole officer they are assigned to and the number and types of programs they are required to participate in. Furthermore, their quality of life after release and their level of success is determined in large part by the program administrators managing those “for-profit companies” and “non-profit/for-profit agencies,” that supervise parolee programs. The argument here is that there must be a better system for monitoring the activities of those organizations that are in the business of facilitating prisoner reentry-related services. A process of accountability that will ensure that organizations part of the PRI are in fact providing services in the manner that was stated and agreed upon during their request for funding. The most important tool for ending this cycle lies in creating employment opportunities for the formerly incarcerated and empowering them to access those resources afforded all citizens. Consequently, if those agencies and organizations in the business of facilitating prisoner reentry were successful at making available the services they argue they do provide, members of these organizations would work themselves out of a job; that would be a valid indicator of organizational success.

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35 citations

Journal Article•DOI•

Beyond Basic Needs: Social Support and Structure for Successful Offender Reentry

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Andrew S. Denney¹, Richard Tewksbury¹, Richard S. Jones²•Institutions (2)

University of Louisville¹, Marquette University²

01 Apr 2014

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explored what significant requirements, if any, successful offenders perceive to need and/or have experienced as lacking while attempting to successfully reenter society and found that many of the research-identified needs are not major barriers because they are often provided for by various non-profit agencies.

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Abstract: Barriers to successful reentry have long been identified as impeding an offender’s ability to successfully reenter society upon release from incarceration. As a result, research has long examined what shared obstacles the majority of offenders often face upon reentering society. Much of the research identifies factors such as poor education, obtaining/maintaining employment, stable housing, and transportation as common barriers to successful reentry. By using in-depth interviews with ex-offenders deemed as successful that were conducted by two respective non-profit agencies, the present study explores what significant requirements, if any, successful offenders perceive to need and/or have experienced as lacking while attempting to successfully reenter society. Findings from this study highlight that many of the research-identified needs are not major barriers because they are often provided for by various non-profit agencies. Furthermore, successful ex-offenders overwhelmingly identify poor social support as a major barrier that oftentimes remains neglected in government and non-profit organizational programming.

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35 citations

Cites background from "But They All Come Back: Facing the ..."

...…cities are inundated with a population of individuals with poor education, inadequate job skills, and limited housing options (Carson & Sabol, 2012; Garland, Wodahl, & Mayfield, 2011; Horney, Osgood, & Marshall, 1995; Maruschak & Parks, 2012; Petersilia, 2001, 2005; Travis, 2005; Ulmer, 2001)....
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...With approximately 688,000 offenders released from state and federal incarceration in 2011, cities are inundated with a population of individuals with poor education, inadequate job skills, and limited housing options (Carson & Sabol, 2012; Garland, Wodahl, & Mayfield, 2011; Horney, Osgood, & Marshall, 1995; Maruschak & Parks, 2012; Petersilia, 2001, 2005; Travis, 2005; Ulmer, 2001)....
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Journal Article•DOI•

Employ behavioral contracting for “earned discharge” parole

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Joan Petersilia¹•Institutions (1)

University of California, Irvine¹

01 Nov 2007-Criminology and public policy

TL;DR: In the United States, about 80% of all released prisoners are required to report to local parole authorities and begin the process of supervised parole, which lasts an average of just over 2 years as mentioned in this paper.

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Abstract: Roughly 600,000 people are released each year from state and federalprisons in the United States, about 1,600 a day. About 80% of all releaseswill be required to report to local parole authorities and to begin theprocess of supervised parole, which lasts an average of just over 2 years(Hughes et al., 2001; Petersilia, 2003).

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35 citations

Journal Article•DOI•

The Importance of Ecological Context for Correctional Rehabilitation Programs: Understanding the Micro- and Macro-Level Dimensions of Successful Offender Treatment

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Kevin A. Wright, Travis C. Pratt¹, Christopher T. Lowenkamp², Edward J. Latessa²•Institutions (2)

Arizona State University¹, University of Cincinnati²

26 Oct 2012-Justice Quarterly

TL;DR: This article examined the impact of structural characteristics on both treatment program quality and effectiveness of halfway house programs in Ohio and found that ecological context influences the magnitude of program treatment effects largely indirectly though its influence on program quality.

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Abstract: The resurgence of support for offender rehabilitation has led to an increased emphasis on correctional program integrity. Treatment programs are now being evaluated and tailored in accordance with the principles of effective intervention, which are rooted primarily in methods of individual behavior modification through a social learning approach. The problem with this exclusive focus on the individual is that it fails to recognize the importance of certain ecological factors that have been shown to be significant predictors of recidivism. The purpose of the current research, therefore, is to examine the impact of structural characteristics on both treatment program quality and effectiveness of halfway house programs in Ohio. Our results reveal that ecological context influences the magnitude of program treatment effects largely indirectly though its influence on program quality. The implications of these findings for correctional theory and practice are discussed.

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35 citations

Cites background from "But They All Come Back: Facing the ..."

...Second, structural characteristics may also influence recidivism indirectly by affecting the level of treatment integrity associated with correctional programs (Travis, 2005), where programs located within impoverished social contexts may have a more difficult time securing the necessary resources to properly manage offenders....
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...…characteristics may also influence recidivism indirectly by affecting the level of treatment integrity associated with correctional programs (Travis, 2005), where programs located within impoverished social contexts may have a more difficult time securing the necessary resources to properly…...
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...Travis (2005) provided what he calls the principles of effective reentry in his book on offender reintegration....
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...Finally, Travis (2005) wrote of “communities of concentrated return” and documented the difficulties experienced by disadvantaged communities tasked with ensuring successful offender reintegration, which strains the abilities of already weak institutions designed to rehabilitate and reintegrate…...
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But They All Come Back: Facing the Challenges of Prisoner Reentry

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Cites background from "But They All Come Back: Facing the ..."

Cites background from "But They All Come Back: Facing the ..."

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