Community Wise: Critical Thinking in Re-entry

• In Event: Poster Session I

Abstract

This poster will report on a study in progress evaluating Community Wise, an intervention designed to reduce substance use and increase empowerment among men returning from incarceration to neighborhoods in Newark, NJ. Grounded in critical consciousness theory and an understanding of injustice as a source of health inequalities, Community Wise aims to facilitate anti-inequality thinking and anti-inequality community action to combat structural barriers to recovery and re-entry such as stigma and discrimination. The conceptual model behind Community Wise posits that the intervention components, mediated by critical action and critical knowledge at the individual, interpersonal and community levels, contribute to reduced substance use (and related benefits) by reducing shame and increasing self- and community efficacy and community connections. The study employs the multiphase optimization strategy (MOST) to identify the most promising version of Community Wise that can be delivered below a cost threshold, by testing each component and all possible combinations of components, delivered by either a peer or licensed facilitator, for a total of 16 conditions. A total of 528 men with histories of incarceration and substance use disorders are being randomly assigned to the conditions.

Authors

• Ellen Benoit, NDRI

• Liliane Windsor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign