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Offender Reentry Programs

Offender reentry programs are designed to enhance offenders’ transition from prison to the community. Offender reentry programs also address released offenders’ needs with regard to social and job skills, education, and health, mental health, and substance abuse issues. The ultimate goal of offender reentry programs is the reintegration of offenders back into the community, the reduction of recidivism and victimization, and the restoration of justice to the communities and victims. Offender reentry programs also provide opportunities for the surveillance of released offenders as they adjust back to life in the community, including the monitoring of their behavior and/or activities. For instance, some states use GPS (Global Positioning System) surveillance to monitor ex-offenders, especially sex offenders, in the community. Government agencies, individuals, and corporations have been known to operate surveillance cameras, with the purpose of deterring property crimes and other crimes. In addition, government agencies may employ surveillance for intelligence gathering and prevention of criminal behavior. However, human rights activists and civil libertarians are often opposed to surveillance, even for released offenders, because of its intrusion into peoples’ privacy.

Although surveillance is not the primary goal of offender reentry programs, these programs create opportunities for monitoring offenders through the coordination and strengthening of community resources and support networks. Agencies that participate in offender reentry programs include law enforcement, social services, mental health agencies, substance abuse treatment providers, and victim advocacy groups.

The need for offender reentry programs is an acknowledgment that programs designed to rehabilitate offenders in prison are ineffective in reducing recidivism. According to the National Institute of Justice, more than 60% of released offenders were rearrested within 3 years of their release. The primary goal of offender reentry programs is to break this cycle of crime.

Factors Affecting Reentry

Research has shown that many repeat offenders share similar characteristics—namely, that they often come from troubled backgrounds. Some of them lack parental or other adult guidance. Some have dropped out of school and lack basic educational skills such as counting, reading, and writing. In addition, many prisons are not adequately equipped to prepare inmates for life outside the prisons. On release from prison, many released offenders have little or no money, lack family support or meaningful supervision, and carry a stigma associated with being incarcerated—these factors can make it difficult for released offenders to adjust to life after prison.

Other factors affecting offender reintegration into the community include the age and gender of the individual offender. Many offenders are young males and, as such, typically engage in risky behaviors, such as substance abuse, and are susceptible to peer pressure. Other factors that inhibit adjustment to law-abiding life in the community include an individual’s self-esteem and the social support available to them.

Effective Reentry

There are many programs and policies that are likely to make offender reentry into the community more effective. Some experts on offender reentry identify the different stages to target society’s offender reentry efforts: the preprison, during prison, and postprison stages. Daniel P. Mears and Joshua C. Cochran argue that proactive policies and practices are more effective in reducing recidivism. A proactive process starts the moment an individual is convicted of a crime and before the individual embarks on his or her prison journey. According to Mears and Cochran, while housing and treatment facilities are instrumental to an offender’s reentry into the community, it is more important to prepare the offender mentally about prison life. This will likely help the individual cope, reduce the shock of incarceration, and facilitate adaptation to prison life. To do so, counseling with offenders begins while the offender is in jail, before being transferred to prison, and includes a needs and risk assessment. Part of the assessment aims to identify the criminogenic, educational, and employment needs of the offender.

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