Imprisonment rates in the United States of America over the past two decades have increased at an alarming rate. According to information released by Bureau of Justice Statistics, by the end of 2001, a total of 5,618,000 adult American citizens had been imprisoned at least once in their lives (Mears, 2004). In addition, the research revealed that almost 1 person in every 37 adults in America has gone through the incarceration process. Just as the imprisonment rates have gone high, so has the number of people being released from the prisons increased too.
The estimated number of offenders released from USA prisons in 1980 was 170,000 and since then, over the last twenty years, the number has tripled with almost about 592,000 prisoners being released to join the society from federal and state facilities. Currently, almost about 700,000 prisoners in the US are released from custody each year to join their communities. Research conducted over the last decade shows that transition from prison life to the outside society is often difficult for the ex-offenders, their family members, friends, and the larger community (Petersilia, 1999). A big number of incarcerated individuals lack the skills to support themselves once outside the prison walls. If ex-offenders are not guided through the reintegration process, they face a lot of challenges and as a result, many of them go back to their previous lives before imprisonment.
In the U.S.A, two-thirds of the released inmates are arrested again within a period of three years after their official release. More than one million parents are arrested and as a result, leave their children without proper care. Four million men and women lose their voting rights and a big number of citizens taken to prison usually have limited education and work experience. Currently, great numbers of inmates leave prisons unprepared to face community life effectively, since the few available prison programs do not have incentives for the prisoners to learn new things.
Ex-inmates confined within correctional centers are confronted with a large number of economic, personal, and social challenges that create obstacles towards living a crime-free lifestyle after imprisonment. Some of these challenges are related to the ex-offenders’ past experiences while others are directly related to the incarceration process itself hence inmates’ difficulties in reentering the society. Some offenders could have been abused emotionally or physically while others have a history of being socially isolated, marginalized, or might have gotten involved in criminal behaviors at an early age. Another group of offenders who face a lot of challenges in reentering society includes inmates with mental and physical disabilities caused by drug addiction or substance abuse (Mears, 2004). A big number of ex-prisoners lack basic planning skills, have very low levels of formal education and lack wisdom of using the little amount of money they can acquire through informal jobs to be able to afford cheap accommodation. All these problems could be a basis for triggering inmates’ challenges in reentering the community.
The transition period after incarceration back to the community could be very difficult for ex-offenders and can lead to a stressful life as a result of being under supervision by the community members. The incarceration period itself could have created “collateral effects” to the offenders such as losing families, personal belongings, and other very important personal effects (Shivy, 2007). While in prison individuals could have acquired self-defeating attitudes and habits which make them lose their self-esteem hence problems in integrating well with other society members. Life after imprisonment is not easy for ex-offenders since they always have to work hard in overcoming hurdles related to their previous lives as offenders. They require special assistance to re-unit effectively with society. The general society is required to view ex-offenders as people who are able to make it in life but not to look down upon them.
Ex-offenders’ successful re-entry into society is very important towards reducing recidivism, building healthier neighborhoods and saving the taxpayers money (Petersilia, 1999). Ex-offenders do encounter a lot of psychological and social challenges in their attempt to reenter the community. Many of the offenders leave the prisons with substance abuse, health, family and economic problems (Altschule, 2004). In addition, immediately after their release to the community, they are faced with challenges of securing jobs in order to meet their basic needs like food and shelter. In many cases, they lack support from their community members who fear for their own safety. All these challenges make it very hard for the ex-prisoners to fit perfectly into the society they once belonged to and as a result, some of them are forced to go back to their previous lives. If these challenges are not properly addressed they affect both the individual ex-prisoner and entire community at large. Research shows that employment is linked with lower reoffending rates and lower criminal activities are closely associated with higher wages.
Employment plays a very critical role in an ex-prisoners life; it enables one to have social connections, feelings of self worth and having a sense of societal contribution. For the ex-prisoners rejoining the community, employment can create a difference from going back to prison or being successful. However, ex-offenders go through tremendous challenges in securing and maintaining sustainable job opportunities. Due to limited work experience, lack of vocational training skills and low education levels the ex-offender encounter challenges in competing with other members of the society for the available job opportunities. Employers have negative attitude towards people with criminal records and as a result they fail to grant them employment opportunities. Given the current economic downturn where employers receive a big number of applications, it is most likely that most employers prefer to hire people who do not have any criminal records. This in return affects the ex-offenders greatly and due to lack of adequate funds they are faced with another challenge of acquiring housing facilities.
Research shows that there is a relationship between ex-prisoner’s possession of a stable home and recidivism. Ex-prisoners who lack housing facilities are at a higher risk of going back to their former criminal lives compared to their counterparts in well paying jobs and with good accommodations. In addition, ex-offenders on parole or probation after being released may sometimes be under rules that restrict them from staying in certain areas or residences. This in return limits their freedom of movement and socializations (Altschule, 2004). Ex-offenders in many states are required to undergo mandatory registration which greatly interferes with their personal privacy. The information is published and can be accessed by community members without any difficulties. This in return causes a lot of humiliation and embarrassment to the ex-offenders. Such restrictions affect ex-prisoners chances of being employed, getting housing facilities and their ability to interact well with other society members.
Inmates in correctional centers in most instances share common behavior of abusing substances prior to and during their incarceration. About 80% of offenders under correction in USA are identified with challenges of abusing substances which are related to their criminal behavior that led to their imprisonment (Altschule, 2004). Although a lot of studies have revealed that there is a relationship between substance abuse and criminal offending, very little is known on patterns of alcohol and drug abuse among ex-offenders.However, a big number of ex-offenders seem to be involved in drug and alcohol abuse, something which greatly hinder their chances of securing stable accommodation and legal employment.
Many ex-offenders released from jail do not have any conduct with their family members and friends; hence face greater challenges of “starting from scratch”. In addition incarceration has far reaching impacts which do not affect the inmates alone but also the societies victimized by their crimes. Sometimes, the stringent laws made to punish the offenders harm innocent victims too (Shivy, 2007). For instance, children of incarcerated parents undergo a lot of psychological torture and stress while their parents are in prison or released on parole. The offenders’ families play a very crucial role in assisting them to reenter the society without challenges. It should be noted that a big number of offenders come from broken families or the parents at one time were also incarcerated. Such kind of families cannot offer any form of assistance to the ex-offenders in terms of financial, physical or emotional support.
The family issue therefore becomes a very big hindrance to the ex-offender towards a successful crime-free reintegration into the society. Helping ex-criminals to construct new relationships becomes a good source of healing, support and connection. Some ex-prisoners in most instances suffer from lack of self acceptance and low self esteem hence need long counseling periods and therapy in order to cope well with the other family members (Petersilia, 1999). Others think that due to their previous lives they do not qualify to enjoy equal opportunities with the other people in the society. Another group of ex-offenders especially women go through very hard moments in dealing with post traumatic stress disorders.
This category of ex-offenders could have been violence victims or might have undergone traumatizing experiences while in prison. As a result, they tend to oppose the integration process by defending themselves passively or in an active manner if threatened by chaotic situations in the society. People with post traumatic disorder always tend to have a lot of flashbacks, depression, and anxiety. They are also very sensitive to minor provocations and have emotional numbing. It is therefore becomes very hard for such group of ex-offenders to rejoin the community without experiencing a lot of challenges.
Ex-offenders with children go through problems of maneuvering through child welfare systems. In some instances, criminal conviction becomes a ground for terminating individual parental rights. Those ex-prisoners attempting to reunite with their families also face challenges of adhering to mandates of child welfare system which conflict with parole mandates and benefit program work requirement (Shivy, 2007). In addition, ex-inmates trying to secure employment could encounter child support obligations in their attempt to reestablish their lives. Criminal convictions could also be used in preventing the ex-offenders from being adoptive or foster parents even in case where the crime committed is not related with parental responsibilities. Such laws limit ex-offenders chances of becoming integrated effectively into the society. Instead, the child welfare systems should make use of individualized evaluations before coming to conclusion of using criminal history to make verdicts against ex-offenders.
Because it is very hard for the ex-prisoners to secure reliable employment and housing, loss of public benefit greatly worsens their already bad situation. In some instances, the ex-offenders are not legible for SSI, Food stamp and TANF benefits which are made to assist them while trying to reestablish themselves (Petersilia, 1999). In cases where the ex-offenders qualify to receive these benefits, unemployment and parole mandates often conflict with working requirements that go with the benefit programs. This category of offenders finds it very hard to join the society once more. In an effort to assist such ex-offenders some legislative reforms that encourage smoother reentry mechanisms should be carried out.
At some instances, even after ex-prisoners identify methods and approaches of overcoming initial challenges of reentering the society, they still encounter other barriers which continuously attempt to stop their progression. When rejoining their communities, a big number of ex-prisoners are not provided with proper medical attention and drug abuse treatment. This later becomes a major area of concern because a big number of health problems such as tuberculosis, HIV and AIDS and hepatitis Care contracted while one is in prison. In cases where individuals leave prisons with such kinds of illnesses they face a lot of challenges in seeking proper medical assistance because of lack of adequate funds.
Long term ex-offender’s successful reintegration in the society could also be impeded by restrictions which make it very difficult for the affected individuals to build strong stability foundations for future developments. Inmates convicted as a result of being in possession or because of selling prohibited substances could indefinitely become ineligible to federal financial assistance for higher education. These kinds of restrictions limit the chances for ex-offenders with limited education in continuing with their studies hence they cannot broaden their employment opportunities (Mears, 2004). In addition in some states ex-offenders no not have voting rights; hence they lack empowerment to advocate their rights within the political arena. For instance, convicted felons in more than eleven states lose their voting rights indefinitely. This greatly affects the reintegration process since individuals feel isolated and ignored in major state functions.
If an ex-offender is a legal resident, past convictions can easily provoke deportation proceedings if such a person legally leaves USA and later attempts to gain entry into the country. Because legal residents with felony charges are not allowed to become citizens of United States, criminal charges greatly limit their chances of allowing their relatives to visit them in the states. This in return hinders their reintegrating process because family members play a very big role in assisting ex-offenders to reenter the society.
There are so many challenges that hinder ex-offenders from reentering the society effectively and successfully. These challenges could be summarized as psychological, health, emotional, physical, and civil limitations. Before releasing ex-offenders into the society, prison authorities should ensure that all major areas of concern are identified and addressed in order to avoid recidivism (Altschule, 2004). Civil aid and legal services providers should work hand in hand with the criminal legal assistance services providers in order to ensure that ex-offenders do not go through a lot of challenges.
References
Altschuler, D.M., & Brash, R.Y. (2004). Adolescent and teenage offenders confronting the Challenges and opportunities of reentry. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 6 (48), 72-89.
Mears, D.(2004). The dimensions, pathways, and consequences of youth reentry. Reentering the society,48(6),89-92.
Petersilia, J.(1999). Parole and prisoner reentry in the United States. Crime and Justice,86(12),967-987.
Shivy, V.A.,Moon, A.E.,& and Mann, S.C.(2007). Ex-offenders reentering the workforce. Journal of Counseling Psychology,80(4)466-500.
Travis, J.M.(2005).But they all come back: Facing the challenges of prisoner reentry. New York: Urban institute publishers.