The Reentry Problem

1
The Re-entry Problem

• What is the re-entry problem, and why is it of
  such significance?

2
Obstacles to Policy Change

• Appearance of efficacy (e.g. drop in crime rates)
• Political risk
• Private interests with political influence
• The appeal of retributive logic
• Institutional dynamics (probation and parole)

3
Factors Encouraging Policy Change

• Growing public support for alternatives,
  especially for drug offenders
• Politics of state ballot initiatives
• Concerns about fiscal cost
• Concerns about the re-entry problem
• Some changes in state-level sentencing laws

4
The Problem

• About 600,000 inmates are released very year.
• An 8-fold increase since 1970
• Between 1984 and 1996, the percentage of
  successful parole discharges declined from 70 to
  44.
• 45 are re-arrested within a year of their
  release.

5
Increasingly, prison increases the likelihood of
recidivism. Why?

• Adverse consequences of changing prison
  conditions.
• Restricted access to federal benefits for drug
  offenders.
• Changing focus of parole agents.
• Difficulties obtaining employment.
• 60-80 remain unemployed a year after release.

6
Changes in Prison Conditions
7
Restricted access to benefits for drug offenders

• Includes student loans, Section 8 housing, some
  commercial and professional licenses. May also
  include TANF and food stamps.
• Rationale?
• Problems?

8
Changing Nature of Parole

• From service provision to rule enforcement.
• Larger caseloads
• Fewer services available
• Examples from Elaine Bartletts story?

9
Felony Conviction Employment Evidence from a
Recent Study
Source Pager, Devah, The Mark of a Criminal
Record (University of Chicago Press, forthcoming)
10
Community-level effects of mass incarceration

• Familial effects
• Millions of U.S. children have an incarcerated
  parent
• Disrupts relationships, marriages
• Depletes family resources
• Community level effects
• Adverse health effects
• Creates instability undermines social networks
  and informal social control
• Appears to increase crime at the neighborhood
  level

11
What Should Be Done?