Reentry Through Their Eyes: Recordholder Perceptions of Support and Success

• In Event: Perceptions of Criminal Justice Policy and Practice

Abstract

While incarcerated and upon release from prison, recordholders may receive different kinds of help in a variety of areas including but not limited to drug/alcohol treatment, job training, emotional and psychological support, financial literacy, and legal issues. While prior literature has evaluated the objective efficacy of many of these programs, a gap remains regarding the recordholder’s own perception of how helpful these programs were. Using mixed methods and a longitudinal dataset, the current study analyzes quantitative data to figure out which types of help recordholders view as most helpful and then identifies the types of help that are most predictive of desistance from crime. A thematic analysis of interviews with a subset of this sample adds context and depth to the quantitative results as these recordholders describe in their own words which types of help were most important to them in the desistance process. Intersectional differences are explored. Policy implications are discussed.

Authors

• Mariah Robles, University of New Haven

• Rachel Novick, University of New Haven

• Sishi Wu, California State University, San Bernardino