Abstract
Since the mid-1970s the US has experienced an enormous rise in incarceration, which has been disproportionately experienced by minorities, particularly young black men, and those with low levels of education. The effects of incarceration are felt not just by the individuals who go to prison but by their families as well. In this chapter we explore the role of family, broadly defined, in prisoner reintegration using administrative data and in-depth interviews with former prisoners in Michigan. More specifically, we attempt to understand what kinds of family supports, obligations, and conflicts enhance or hinder reentry and reintegration after prison. Our results indicate that families play a critical role in reintegration, but that their effects are complex and often countervailing. Families provide essential material resources without which former prisoners would struggle to meet even basic material needs for food and stable housing, but whether and how family members enhance or threaten reintegration and desistance from crime depends on their social and economic resources, their own substance use and criminal behavior, their own health and caregiving needs, and the nature of their relationships with the former prisoner. Implications for future research and policy are discussed.
The original version of this chapter was revised. An erratum to this chapter can be found at DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-43847-4_17
An erratum to this chapter can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43847-4_17
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Acknowledgments
This research was supported by the Office of the Vice President for Research, Rackham Graduate School, Department of Sociology, Joint Ph.D. Program in Sociology and Public Policy, National Poverty Center, University of Michigan Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy, the Russell Sage Foundation, the National Institute of Justice (2008-IJ-CX-0018), the National Science Foundation (SES-1061018, SES- 1060708), and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (1R21HD060160 01A1) and by center grants from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to the Population Studies Centers at the University of Michigan (R24 HD041028) and at UC Berkeley (R24 HD073964), and by the National Institute on Aging to the Population Studies Centers at the University of Michigan (T32 AG000221). We thank Charley Chilcote and Paulette Hatchett at the Michigan Department of Corrections for facilitating access to the data and for advice on the research design. We thank Steve Heeringa and Zeina Mneimneh for advice on the sample design. Brenda Hurless, Bianca Espinoza, Andrea Garber, Jonah Siegal, Jay Borchert, Amy Cooter, Jane Rochmes, Claire Herbert, Jon Tshiamala, Katie Harwood, Elizabeth Sinclair, Carmen Gutierrez, Joanna Wu, Clara Rucker, Michelle Hartzog, Tyrell Connor, Madie Lupei, Elena Kaltsas, Brandon Cory, and Elizabeth Johnston provided excellent research assistance.
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Harding, D.J. et al. (2016). Families, Prisoner Reentry, and Reintegration. In: M. Burton, L., Burton, D., M. McHale, S., King, V., Van Hook, J. (eds) Boys and Men in African American Families. National Symposium on Family Issues, vol 7. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43847-4_8
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