Positive and Negative Social Capital: A Balancing Act? Labor Market and Neighborhood Experiences of Young Adult Offenders Reentering from Jail

• In Event: Youth and Young Adult Reentry from Incarceration: Developmental and Life Course Perspectives

Abstract

Young adult offenders face significant challenges to successful reintegration including obtaining employment, neighborhood and community influences, family relationships, educational deficits and developmental challenges. While these factors, integral in the reentry process, have been explored in existing literature, less is known about the reentry experiences of young adult offenders experiencing both the transition from jail to the community and from adolescence to adulthood. Utilizing qualitative methods to obtain thorough narratives of these experiences, this study examines how 18-25 year-old offenders balance the experience of jail with the reintegration and developmental challenges facing this population upon their release. Specifically, this study explores labor market and neighborhood experiences following the release from jail to better understand how these individuals balance both negative and positive social capital within their communities. Obtaining a more comprehensive understanding of reentry experiences for young adult offenders is useful for policy makers to develop successful initiatives that address both transitional experiences for this population, as well as the factors that increase and decrease the risk of future involvement in the criminal justice system.

Author

• Justine McDavid, Rutgers University