Prisoner Reentry Programs

Reentry, according to Ram Cnaan and Jill Sinha, is defined as the process of leaving prison and returning to family, the labor force, the community, and the greater society. The process of reentry represents crucial points in the corrections system from several different perspectives. How successfully an individual fares post-release is, in part, a reflection of the effectiveness of the larger criminal justice system and may have significant consequences for the community to which a prisoner returns.

[Page 1057]For the individual prisoner, being released may present new and sometimes daunting challenges such as finding adequate housing and employment and reconnecting with loved ones. For certain populations, these challenges are arguably more salient, making the process of assimilating back into society even more difficult. Requirements for prisoners released after serving sentences for sexual offenses, for example, including restrictions on where they can live, present these prisoners with further practical limitations. Although there may not exist the same explicit challenges to reentry as is seen with sexual offenders, prisoners released from long-term solitary confinement may also experience a great deal of difficulty adjusting back into the general population.

In addition, the diversity of the demographic profile of the released inmates deserves careful consideration. The higher incarceration rate of African American males, states E. A. Carson and D. Golinelli, inevitably yields higher numbers of African American men returning to their communities. Traditionally, men have been incarcerated at rates far greater than women. As a result, an integral part of the justice system is designed for men's needs. However, the number of women in prison has been rising faster than the number of males, report William Sabol, Todd Minton, and Paige Harrison. Approximately two out of every three people released are rearrested in three years, estimate P. A. Langan and D. J. Levin; 58 percent of women released from state prison are rearrested within three years, and 40 percent are reconvicted. The diverse nature of released people requires human services to be compatible with their needs. If the common goal is to prevent future arrest after release, transitional and reentry services to ease the burden on diverse reentering populations shall be delivered through culturally competent social service providers. Considering these conditions, it is not difficult to imagine that this segment of the prison population also experiences unique barriers to the reentry process.

Most people know that there will come a time where prisoners are released from the correctional system and will reenter back to their respective communities. What they do not know is the difficulties that the now ex-prisoners are faced with once they are out of the system. Many come out of prison and are immediately faced with obstacles that may prevent them from successfully reintegrating back to society. Chuck Colson, an ex-prisoner and former Nixon administration member, once said, “The road home is possibly the most difficult journey an ex-prisoner will ever make.” When most inmates leave prison, they are already confronted with an assortment of problems such as looking for housing, good employment, and as Eugene Williams mentioned, the success or failure regarding substance abuse. Offenders are generally unprepared for reentry; they are not provided with adequate support to effectively transition back into their communities upon release.

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