Crime & Delinquency

Reflecting unprecedented prison expansion, the scale of prisoner reentry has reached new heights. Although the movement of individuals from prison to community is not new, a focus on the phenomenon of reentry at this time sheds light on the consequences of America's shifting sentencing policies, the changes in parole supervision, and the concentrated impact of removal and return of prisoners on disadvantaged communities. The profile of the current reentry cohort shows that prisoners are less prepared for reintegration and less connected to community-based social structures. Linkages between prisoner reentry and the related social policy domains of health policy, family and child welfare policy, workforce participation, civic participation, and racial disparities are examined to show the potential for more systematic reintegration policies. The article concludes with discussion of the implications of a reentry perspective for the development of new strategies for prisoner reintegration.

After three decades of passing laws and implementing policies designed to dramatically increase the nation's prison population and harden the conditions of confinement, there is a newfound interest among policy makers and criminologists in prisoner release. Using national data and a survey of eight states, this article examines the current “state of the art” of prisoner reentry. Not surprisingly, most state prison systems are ill equipped to ease the transition of inmates from prison to the community. A significant portion of released inmates pose minimal risk to public safety. Parole supervision increasingly results in ex-convicts' being reincarcerated for noncriminal behavior or misdemeanor crimes. For most inmates, reentry should be curtailed by either eliminating supervision or greatly shortening the period of supervision.

Prior research has established that the characteristics of “places” are an important aspect of public safety and local quality of life. Growth in the rates of incarceration since 1973, combined with social disparity in the experience of imprisonment among certain groups, has meant that some communities experience concentrated levels of incarceration. This article examines the spatial impact of incarceration and explores the problems associated with removing and returning offenders to communities that suffer from high rates of incarceration. The study analyzes data from a series of individual and group interviews designed to reveal the experiences and perspectives of a sample of 39 Tallahassee, Florida, residents (including ex-offenders) who live in two high-incarceration neighborhoods. The authors then provide a series of policy recommendations to offset some of the unintended consequences of incarceration. The article concludes with research priorities for further study.

The 20th century American war on drugs dramatically affected African American innercity neighborhoods and families, and many within these communities see more signs of vindictiveness than reconstruction in the aftermath of this conflict. This article considers the dilemma that the erosion of state capital and the formation of negative social capital poses for the return of incarcerated parents into these communities and families. It examines new federal family welfare legislation as indicative of state disinvestments in these families. The final part of the article suggests directions for research on the reentry of persons released from prison into these communities and families.

This article uses results of a qualitative research project to describe the challenges that incarcerated women face as they return to their communities from jail or prison. Following a descriptive profile of the population, the particular challenges are discussed, focusing on the gender and culturally specific needs that formerly incarcerated women from low-income communities face upon release from correctional facilities in this country. The article concludes with a discussion of the broader contexts that affect women's self-sufficiency, and the need for neighborhood development initiatives, public policy reform, and social changes.

Correctional inmates and ex-offenders are disproportionately burdened by medical and mental health problems. This article reviews the state of programs and research in five health-related issues important to these inmates' successful transitions to the community: discharge planning, community linkages, and continuity of care; adherence to treatment regimens; availability of housing; quick access to benefit programs; and the particular needs of dually and triply diagnosed individuals. In general, such services are currently inadequate, although there are exemplary programs and promising strategies in some of these realms. Additional research is needed to evaluate current programs and encourage their replication and enhancement. The disproportionate share of the nation's total burden of health problems found among inmates and the potential public health and fiscal benefits of an improved response should make this research a high priority.

Rapid growth in the incarceration rate over the past two decades has made prison time a routine event in the life course of young, economically disadvantaged Black and Hispanic men. Although incarceration may now have large effects on economic inequality, only a few studies systematically examine the labor market experiences of ex-offenders. We review the mechanisms that plausibly link incarceration to employment and earnings and discuss the challenges of causal inference for a highly self-selected sample of criminal offenders. There is little consensus about the labor market effects of a variety of justice system sanctions, but there is consistent evidence for the negative effects of prison time on earnings, particularly among older or white-collar offenders. The labor market effects of incarceration are not yet well understood, but prior research suggests several promising avenues for future work.

The current scale of offender reentry creates unprecedented challenges for those, including victims, who have an interest in the successful reintegration of offenders into the community. Current problem-solving approaches emphasize the need for continuity between in-custody and postrelease programs and the importance of partnerships and collaborations in supervision and support for offenders. These developments offer increasing opportunities to victims and victims organizations because their experience and knowledge are often directly relevant to reentry issues. Increased victim involvement in the planning, management, and implementation of reentry policies and programs can contribute positively to better informed decisions and the achievement of reentry goals.

This article is divided into four major sections. The first describes the factors that have resulted in persons with serious mental illnesses' (PSMIs') becoming a growing segment of the correctional population. The second explores the changing face of parole supervision and the implications of those changes for the care of PSMIs on parole. Section three discusses the prevalence of mental illnesses among adult prisoners and probationers and draws inferences from those data to the parolee population. Section three also explores mental health care for prison inmates and special programs for PSMIs on probation and parole. The article concludes with several suggestions for improving parole practices to meet the needs of PSMIs.

This article examines the role of drugs in increasing the incarcerated population in the United States. Research is increasingly demonstrating the effectiveness of treatment for incarcerated populations in reducing recidivism and drug use, especially treatment in a therapeutic community (TC). Transitional services that include TC treatment in a work release setting greatly reduce recidivism and relapse, as do aftercare services. Although treatment options are increasing in prisons, there are many more who could benefit from treatment than receive it. Much remains unknown about how to best reach drug-involved offenders to stop the revolving door of drug addiction and incarceration. This article touches on many relevant areas ripe for further research.