Prisoner Reentry

Racially Disparate Imprisonment Rates

Prisoners have been reentering communities since the turn of the 18th century, when the first U.S. prison began operating in Philadelphia. Since then, the U.S. corrections model has shifted back and forth from punishment and deterrence to rehabilitation. The unprecedented, threefold increase of prisoners over the past 20 years, however, has resulted in an increasing number of offenders leaving prison and attempting to reenter society. These prisoners reflect an increasingly diverse population, both within and outside of prisons.

Racial minorities (i.e., Black Americans and Latinos) make up a disproportionate amount of the more than 2 million people in federal, state, and local prisons and jails. While Blacks and Latinos represent approximately 12% and 14% of the general U.S. population, they account for 45% and 18% of the total inmate population, respectively. This is compared to Whites, who make up almost 75% of the general U.S. population but account for only 34% of the imprisoned population. With well over half a million offenders leaving prison each year (many of them racial minorities returning to the same neighborhoods where they offended), effective reentry policies and procedures are necessary to ensure community safety, justice, and fiscal responsibility.

Barriers to Reentry

When attempting to successfully reenter society, most offenders will face many of the same factors that contributed to their involvement in crime in the first place (i.e., impoverishment, lack of education, few career opportunities, familial and cultural influences, disease, disenfranchisement, and socially disorganized neighborhoods). For the reentering offender, these effects are even harsher than when he or she was initially imprisoned. Consider the following: Inmates have little or no income while incarcerated, and they may have no place to live following release from prison. Many states have laws that prohibit parolees or formerly imprisoned individuals from [Page 653]holding careers such as physician, teacher, lawyer, real estate agent, and engineer. Only 15% of marital relationships will survive a spouse's incarceration. Children of incarcerated parents are 5 times more likely to be arrested and are more apt to exhibit antisocial behaviors and use drugs. HIV affects the prison population at a rate 6 times higher than that of the general population. And, having been convicted of a felony, 14% of Black men cannot vote to change the laws that affect them after their release from prison. Finally, consider that most of these factors contribute to the likelihood that the ex-offender will turn to drug use and abuse.

It is not surprising, then, that 67% of ex-offenders will be rearrested for a serious offense within 3 years of their release and 52% of the same group will be sent back to prison, with rates for Blacks being slightly higher (and rates for Whites being slightly lower) than those for Latino ex-offenders. Given the racial disparities in arrest and imprisonment rates and the high concentration of the aforementioned social crises in minority communities, Blacks and Latinos are also overrepresented in the population of those offenders returning to prison. The constant revolving door of offenders into and out of the community drastically hinders the economic, social, and familial developments of racially distinct neighborhoods, thereby increasing the likelihood of criminality in new offenders and of unsuccessful reentry of ex-offenders. A discussion of the changing nature of parole, “get tough” policies, and rehabilitation helps to highlight the racial differences in offender reentry.

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