An Unexamined Dimension of Community Supervision: Transportation Deprivation

• In Event: 600 - Section on Crime, Law and Deviance Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable: Section on Crime, Law and Deviance Roundtables. Table 01. Reentry and Reintegration

Abstract

Although transportation is a ubiquitous feature of individuals’ daily lives, its significance to offenders on community supervision has not been explored. In this study, panel data from interviews with 402 women offenders reveal that the absence of transportation access (deprivation) is pervasive; women report low levels of individual and community resources and indicate heavy reliance on help from family and friends to get from place to place. In-depth follow-up interviews (n=75) document ten types of transportation problems and reveal nearly one-half of women (42.6%) report transportation as a ‘top three’ concern.
This manuscript argues that transportation should be addressed as a fundamental need of women offenders on correctional supervision; it should be assessed with risk assessment tools and addressed with reentry programming attention (e.g., access to cars) similar to other needs such as employment, job training and substance abuse treatment. Policies related to public transportation infrastructure planning, automatic revocation of driving licenses for felony offenses, and location of health services impact transportation deprivation.

Author

• Miriam Joy Northcutt Bohmert, Indiana University-Bloomington