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56 J. Offender Rehab. 1 (2017)

handle is hein.journals/wjor56 and id is 1 raw text is: 


JOURNAL OF OFFENDER REHABILITATION
2017, VOL. 56, NO. 1, 1-19                                          Routledge
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10509674.2016.1257533                     Taylor& Francis Group




The   reentry labyrinth: The anatomy of a reentry
services network

Johnny  Nhan,  Kendra  Bowen,  and  Katherine Polzer

Department of Criminal Justice, Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, Texas, USA


   ABSTRACT                                                   KEYWORDS
   Difficulties of returning prisoners to society have been well  Prisoner reentry; recidivism;
   documented in research the last few decades. This article looks  reentry programs
   at reentry programs and finds very few standardized programs
   and brought up many  practical issues exoffenders face upon
   reentry. We examine a nonprofit regional reentry program in
   North Texas in order to better understand the number and
   nature of services available and the difficulties the organizations
   face and its potential impact on former inmates. We use Texas
   ReEntry Services (TXRS) data located in Fort Worth, Texas, as a
   starting point for mapping the reentry landscape, including
   client information in order to identify variables that affect
   obtaining resources, such as transportation. Finally, we discuss
   the potential impact of this networked arrangement on policy
   and recidivism.




Introduction

Scholars  have studied  the difficulties of prisoner reentry in the United  States
for the past several decades.  We  have  an understanding that prisoners face a
myriad   of difficulties upon  release, ranging   from  such  logistical issues as
obtaining  housing  and  employment to related abstract issues of   being  labeled
an  exconvict  and  being  on  parole.  Petersilia (2001,  2003)  painted  a grim
picture  of the  mass   of prisoners  coming home to a social and political
environment set   up  for their failure and recidivism.
   Negative   attitudes  towards   exoffenders   perpetuate   misguided policies
based  on  incapacitation  and  retribution that  have  increased the  number   of
incarcerations  while   simultaneously   dismantling   reentry  support   services.
Many   practitioners  have  cited  Robert  Martinson's   (1974)  meta-analysis  of
reentry  programs,  which   concluded  that nothing   works  as justification for
prison  expansion and retributive operating philosophies (See Blumstein,
1989; Cullen, 2013; Petersilia, 2001). The consequent  expansion  in prisons since
the  1970s has  paralleled the mass   increase in community corrections in the
form  of parole, where   many   exoffenders find  themselves  back  in prison  due



CONTACT  Katherine Polzer 0 k.I.polzer@tcu.edu (D Department of Criminal Justice, Texas Christian University,
2600 South University Drive, Fort Worth, TX 76129, USA.
0 2017 Taylor & Francis

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