Complications Prisoners Face Trying to Re-Enter Society
Incarcerated people face obstacles while trying to reenter into society after being in prison or jail. I will be showing my research and data that I gathered about the three most prominent challenges that ex-convicts face after prison. African American ex-convicts face a particularly harsh road after incarceration and are set up to fail in society with a criminal record. African American convicts face a stigma and discrimination like no other when it comes to reentry into society after serving a sentence.
African American men in particular face a challenging and harsh environment that actively deters them from being productive in society. 3 years after release, 67.8% are rearrested and 5 years after release that number jumps to 76.6%. It is very difficult to navigate the legal and social barriers that are presented to them after incarceration. Employment is another issue that actively deters ex-convicts from becoming productive members in society. A past criminal conviction reduced the likelihood of a job offer by 50%, this leads to a valuable work force that is being overlooked for the crimes they committed in the past. African American offenders are 2/3 less likely to receive job offers from companies, and African American non-offenders are 1/2 as likely to see the same job offers. No national law has been set in stone to help ex-convicts with employment, but some states have begun adopting a "ban the box" or "fair chance laws" to improve employment among ex-convicts. Sadly, 1/3 of the adult working age population has a criminal record, and more than 70 million have been indexed by the FBI.
With all of the men and women with a criminal record in the United States, it is becoming harder to meet housing requirements. 4/5 tenants are expected to run a background check on who they are renting out to and for many of the people with criminal records this prevents them from choosing this particular path for housing. The other problem with housing is that in urban areas the public housing is already at a shortage which makes it twice as hard for people with criminal records to find affordable and suitable housing conditions for where they are in their life. Homelessness is also a major problem with ex-convicts and unemployment plays a large role in this part of the process. With no one to turn to, friends and family are an ex-convicts only option to reintegrate to society. Being away to prison for such a long time can take a toll on those tight knit relationships which in turn ends many of the past relationships that they might have had. The situations are amplified when juveniles go off to prison or jail for long periods of time.
Juvenile face unique challenges compared to any other population after incarceration. Juveniles typically have limited experience of the "outside world" which makes it difficult to reintegrate into a society that they were never really a part of in the past. Juveniles in these criminal justice systems have never done simple and even mundane everyday tasks such as driving a car, owning a bank account, successfully searching for housing, or holding a steady job. Juveniles need support reentering into society with the mental and emotional roller coaster that they will face outside of incarceration. They will need to be guided on their journey for housing, employment, education, and even basic friendships with people around them.
African American convicts face a stigma and discrimination like no other when it comes to reentry into society after serving a sentence. The criminal justice system does not do a very good job of providing support for formerly incarcerated people trying to integrate back into society, this is probably why the national recidivism rate is 43.3%. This leads to the ongoing cycle for most prisoners of re-incarceration and feeding themselves back into the system. Someone needs to push for change to overcome these massive barriers that the system seems to push onto formerly incarcerated people. In order to overcome these barriers the society that these people are coming back to needs to provide support and encouragement for these men and women that are trying to control their own lives again.
African American men in particular face a challenging and harsh environment that actively deters them from being productive in society. 3 years after release, 67.8% are rearrested and 5 years after release that number jumps to 76.6%. It is very difficult to navigate the legal and social barriers that are presented to them after incarceration. Employment is another issue that actively deters ex-convicts from becoming productive members in society. A past criminal conviction reduced the likelihood of a job offer by 50%, this leads to a valuable work force that is being overlooked for the crimes they committed in the past. African American offenders are 2/3 less likely to receive job offers from companies, and African American non-offenders are 1/2 as likely to see the same job offers. No national law has been set in stone to help ex-convicts with employment, but some states have begun adopting a "ban the box" or "fair chance laws" to improve employment among ex-convicts. Sadly, 1/3 of the adult working age population has a criminal record, and more than 70 million have been indexed by the FBI.
With all of the men and women with a criminal record in the United States, it is becoming harder to meet housing requirements. 4/5 tenants are expected to run a background check on who they are renting out to and for many of the people with criminal records this prevents them from choosing this particular path for housing. The other problem with housing is that in urban areas the public housing is already at a shortage which makes it twice as hard for people with criminal records to find affordable and suitable housing conditions for where they are in their life. Homelessness is also a major problem with ex-convicts and unemployment plays a large role in this part of the process. With no one to turn to, friends and family are an ex-convicts only option to reintegrate to society. Being away to prison for such a long time can take a toll on those tight knit relationships which in turn ends many of the past relationships that they might have had. The situations are amplified when juveniles go off to prison or jail for long periods of time.
Juvenile face unique challenges compared to any other population after incarceration. Juveniles typically have limited experience of the "outside world" which makes it difficult to reintegrate into a society that they were never really a part of in the past. Juveniles in these criminal justice systems have never done simple and even mundane everyday tasks such as driving a car, owning a bank account, successfully searching for housing, or holding a steady job. Juveniles need support reentering into society with the mental and emotional roller coaster that they will face outside of incarceration. They will need to be guided on their journey for housing, employment, education, and even basic friendships with people around them.
African American convicts face a stigma and discrimination like no other when it comes to reentry into society after serving a sentence. The criminal justice system does not do a very good job of providing support for formerly incarcerated people trying to integrate back into society, this is probably why the national recidivism rate is 43.3%. This leads to the ongoing cycle for most prisoners of re-incarceration and feeding themselves back into the system. Someone needs to push for change to overcome these massive barriers that the system seems to push onto formerly incarcerated people. In order to overcome these barriers the society that these people are coming back to needs to provide support and encouragement for these men and women that are trying to control their own lives again.
Images:
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| Image of Incarceration rates in the United States. |
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| Image of Formerly Incarcerated people with unemployment. |
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| Image of disproportion between African American men/women and White men/women. |
Sources:
www.correctionalofficer.org - Criminal Justice Overview
eji.org - Equal Justice Initiative Incarceration Reentry to Society
www.brennacenter.org - Criminal Records Effect in Society
socialwork.simmons.edu - Challenges of Prisoner Reentry Into Society
scholar.utc.edu - Challenges of Reentering Society for Incarcerated African American Men
prospect.org - After Incarceration, What's Next?
eji.org - Equal Justice Initiative Incarceration Reentry to Society
www.brennacenter.org - Criminal Records Effect in Society
socialwork.simmons.edu - Challenges of Prisoner Reentry Into Society
scholar.utc.edu - Challenges of Reentering Society for Incarcerated African American Men
prospect.org - After Incarceration, What's Next?
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