Redemption in an Era of Penal Harm: Moving Beyond Offender Exclusion

• In Event: Corrections Reform in Partnership with those Directly Impacted

Abstract

For nearly forty years, the United States was in the grips of what Todd Clear (1994) called a “penal harm movement.” The hallmarks of this movement were the embrace of mass imprisonment, the passage of “get tough” laws, and systematic efforts to exclude convicted offenders from full participation in civic, social, and economic life. However, in recent years, shifts in offender reentry and collateral consequences policy suggest the U.S. may be moving beyond the era of offender exclusion and toward a period of greater offender “inclusion.” Using a national sample of American adults, the current study seeks to determine the extent to which the American public rejects the exclusion of criminal offenders and supports avenues that facilitate their reacceptance into society as prosocial citizens. Specifically, the study examines public support for three aspects of a policy agenda of offender inclusion: the (1) reentry, (2) reintegration, and (3) redemption of criminal offenders. This investigation may aid in informing policymakers of the “ideological space” available to them in pursuing these progressive policy reforms.

Authors

• Angela Joyce Thielo, University of Louisville

• Francis T. Cullen, University of Cincinnati

• Velmer Burton, University of Mississippi