Roundtable: Effective Prisoner Reentry--What We Don’t Know

Session Submission Type: Roundtable Session

Abstract

The subject of prisoner reentry is a salient topic of discussion in both the academic and the practitioner arenas. There’s a body of literature recommending evidence-based interventions and practices, and many agencies report employing evidence-based policies in the supervision of offenders. And yet, how much do we really know about effective reentry? While there is an abundance of research exploring the reentry process, the evaluation of reentry policies or programming number in the low hundreds, with only dozens fitting the accepted criteria for methodologically strong evaluation studies. Furthermore, many evaluations neglect to report crucial programmatic factors and even demographic data. The current round table discussion will focus on limitations with the reentry literature, including the lack of rigor in methodology among the studies that assess effectiveness of reentry interventions.

Sub Unit

• Area XIII: Roundtable Sessions

Chair

• Mirlinda Ndrecka, University of New Haven

Discussants

• Deborah Koetzle, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY

• Cheryl Lero Jonson, Xavier University

• Shelley Listwan, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

• Erin Harbinson, Council of State Governments Justice Center