A recent issue of Criminal Justice and Behavior (Volume 52, Issue 2) features a new study by Emily I. Troshynski, Carolyn Willis, and Kara Forrai that examines the effectiveness of social reentry programs with staff who have experiential knowledge of being justice-involved individuals. The study adopted a qualitative approach, interviewing and analyzing responses from formerly incarcerated people to learn how their interactions with peers and mentors who had similar life experiences worked to reduce the likelihood of recidivism. The study was underwritten by a Second Chance Act (SCA) Grant from the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), which offers federal funds to advance efforts towards improved reentry outcomes. The findings from the study spotlight the impacts of experiential knowledge in both individuals undergoing the difficult process of reentry and those who have chosen to apply their knowledge to help others.
Background
Mass incarceration within the United States has steadily increased over the past several decades, including millions sentenced within local, state, and federal prisons and millions of others under community supervision. The US has the dubious distinction of holding one of the highest rates of incarceration in the world, attributed to factors such as:
- Harsh sentencing laws and “mandatory minimum” policies
- Systemic racial and other biases within policing, prosecution, and sentencing
- Default to justice-involved solutions rather than proper treatment for those with mental health concerns
In addition to these factors, the US also experiences high rates of recidivism, which are the result of significant barriers to social reintegration. Resources such as housing, health care, education, training, and employment are necessary to achieve stability, but access is often limited or denied to formerly incarcerated individuals. Since estimates suggest that 95% of all prisoners will eventually be released, there is an urgent need to address the inequities and shortcomings of the current systems.
Historically, discussion of mass incarceration and recidivism issues have leaned on the knowledge of professionals and groups who offer research-based understanding of crime and justice. However, several studies and academics argue that common criminological knowledge and practices, such as a focus on individual pathology and institutional inertia, have exacerbated the issue and promoted ineffective policies. Within this larger context of discussion and debate, the authors of this study chose to center their own research on how experiential knowledge from other justice-involved individuals affects those who have just begun the process of reintegration.
A high volume of prior research has been conducted on the subject of experiential knowledge within various fields and disciplines, including mental health care and policymaking. Studies have described the impact of integrating such knowledge to support marginalized communities, for example, and how it challenges scientific “hierarchies of expertise” that may not properly engage these communities. Research on experiential knowledge specifically within the scope of reentry is relatively newer, focusing on how peer support and mentoring programs utilize the concept of “wounded healers” to encourage community and mutual aid both within and outside the prison environment. The current study acknowledges much of this previous work and the insights they have provided, while noting that its emphasis is upon personal accounts from a diverse group of current and formerly incarcerated individuals.
“The persistently high recidivism rates among those returning from prison highlight the urgent need for a more equitable justice system and comprehensive policies that address the root causes of crime while providing essential support for individuals at risk of incarceration and reincarceration.”
Methodology
This study worked with 24 reentry clients who had been involved with the Nevada Department of Corrections (NDOC), a corrections system that has been observed to demonstrate the following trends over the past five decades:
- A 391 percent rise in incarceration rate between 1983 - 2015
- An incarceration rate of 763 per 100,000, exceeding the national average
- Approximately 23,000 people enter state/federal prisons annually
- Approximately 38,000 people are booked in local jails annually
Nearly 25 percent of all released individuals in Nevada would re-offend and be reincarcerated within a year, underlining the need to examine the factors leading to such a high rate of recidivism. The researchers gathered qualitative data from interviews with their 24 subjects as a means to inform person-centered approaches to reintegration.
Research Environment
The subjects for this study were drawn from a specific Nevada county where 79 percent of released individuals would relocate, and all were participants in the 18-month reentry program offered by HOPE for Prisoners, Inc. Established in 2009 by Jon Ponder after having served his own eight-year sentence in federal prison, the organization works with correctional institutions as well as probation, parole, and law enforcement agencies to offer comprehensive reentry support both prior to and following release. Services include training in leadership, job readiness, and personal development, which eases reintegration and reduces recidivism. HOPE has assisted over 6000 justice-involved individuals since its founding and has demonstrated positive outcomes: A 2016 study showed that 500 HOPE participants had a 64 percent employment rate and low 6.8 percent recidivism rate after 18 months. However, a similar study of 140 participants in 2023 showed different results: 12.9 percent reincarceration after 12 months, although the reasons for reincarceration varied from new offenses to technical violations or loss of status at transitional housing based on rules infractions.
At the time of the study, HOPE consisted of seven reentry staffers, all of whom were women and four of whom were women of color. Each held a two-year, four-year, or graduate degree, and three were multilingual. Nearly all of the reentry staff had been involved with HOPE as former clients, interns, or mentors, and half had previously experienced incarceration.
Study Structure and Subjects
The DOJ conducted its own evaluation under the auspices of the SCA to track quantitative data on moderate- to high-risk clients related to:
- Demographics
- Training levels
- Program completion
- Employment rates
- Recidivism rates
This study complemented that data with qualitative research derived from reentry client interviews. Candidates were randomly selected by a HOPE program manager from a sample of successful clients who had shown active participation in the program, achieved employment, and avoided re-offending. Of those invited, 24 agreed to participate – 14 men and 10 women. Subjects were an average age of 38 years old, with 62.5 percent identifying as Caucasian/White, 16.7 percent as Black/African-American, and 17.7 percent as Hispanic. Two-thirds of interview subjects were unmarried, and one-third, most of them women, were experiencing homelessness. Nearly 60 percent had at least three prior charges on their criminal record, and the interviews also noted that while over three-quarters of the men reported convictions unrelated to drug offenses, the same proportion of women reported that their convictions were drug-related.
Interviews lasted from 22 minutes to an hour, were conducted individually in accordance with access needs, and focused on the following themes:
- Successes and accomplishments
- Challenges to success
- Program participation issues
- Reasons for reincarceration
- Immediate and long-term goals
The researchers supplemented these interviews with comprehensive field notes and memos to help identify common themes; insights from these interviews reflected the authors’ intent to center their research within communities and capture nuances not always gathered in quantitative studies.
Key Findings and Interpretations
The collected and organized data from the interviews revealed that the experiential knowledge of being a justice-involved individual – including first hand understanding of addiction, incarceration, and other challenges – could have a profound and positive impact on those who are undergoing the reentry process. Clinical staff, case managers, mentors, and other professionals working at organizations like HOPE are able to leverage this knowledge into the development of a highly supportive environment that cultivates empathy, trust, and a sense of community. Responses from the study subjects indicated a high level of appreciation for staff with similar backgrounds, whose understanding helped them achieve a more positive outcome for their reintegration into society. As one individual observed:
“Anyone could go to school and get the education and talk about it [addiction], but if they haven’t gone through it, then it’s just not the same…when I see people that used to be addicts and come out of it, that gives me extra hope because, if they can do it, I can do it.”
Another specifically cited HOPE as an example of a program that had worked after having experienced several other less effective treatment programs. HOPE, they said, “was more in-depth about the reasoning why people use [substances], and…their counselors have all been there.”
Clinical staff with experience were viewed by study participants as having greater empathy for reentry clients, which led to greater comfort in sharing struggles and seeking support. Their knowledge was also useful in communication with clients, as the staff could more readily explain concepts in a way that made them easier to apply. Interviewees specifically attributed their success in the reentry program to the presence of clinical staff with experiential knowledge.
“Encountering individuals who have triumphed over addiction inspires and reinforces the belief in attainable recovery.”
The fact that HOPE’s founder is himself a formerly incarcerated individual was also described by participants as crucial to the success of the program. They mentioned Jon Ponder’s “background, experience, and vision” as being integral, and that his presence during the initial workshop was encouraging due to his relatability. He has offered a unique perspective that is motivating to clients and directly influenced their success within HOPE.
Participants also elaborated the value of other distinct relationships within the HOPE program, such as mentor-mentee, which has the potential to evolve beyond a treatment-focused context to a social one that can offer different forms of support:
“My mentor, her name is Anne. She’ll be out here this weekend, and we’ve gotten together a few times now. We’ve gone to church together. We do different things when she’s in town . . . She’s a friend now…because she went through the program herself and all that, so, you know, it’s SO [emphasized] helpful.”
Mentorship also represented the opportunity for past program participants to remain involved with HOPE and provide support to others in the same way that they were supported. The impulse to shift to this new role underscores the positive impact of emphasizing experiential knowledge among the organization’s staff. Mentoring also offers another level of accountability for those who have recently completed the program by maintaining connection with the established community. These responses are also reflected in previous research on the effectiveness of mentoring, which show that it builds a sense of fulfillment and discourages recidivism. Even those who do not formally take on the role of mentor have become advocates for the benefits of the program. Others described an inclination to go further than advocacy or mentorship and to pursue a formally trained career in substance abuse counseling or to dedicate themselves to other community-minded service, such as providing support to the homeless. As one participant explained:
“There’s a lot of people who have done over fifteen years. Like me. … They [juveniles] need to hear from them. Not somebody who’s taking a class or going to school for it. You gotta teach from personal knowledge.”
Conclusions
The responses collected during the interview process illustrated the benefits of experiential knowledge in a reentry program – individuals with this knowledge have a capacity for empathy and support that cannot be matched by those whose expertise is entirely academic. By adopting this approach, organizations such as HOPE strengthen their curriculum, treatment, and education in ways that promote greater stability and desire to contribute to their community. This, in turn, dramatically decreases the likelihood of recidivism.
The authors’ findings strongly support the incorporation of experiential knowledge to encourage justice-involved individuals as they face the numerous social challenges presented after release. They further state that this sort of knowledge can be made even more effective through the introduction of capacity building and training initiatives. The study does recognize particular hindrances to broader institutional adoption, such as the lack of financial compensation for mentors and potential for burnout among those who choose to volunteer. Professional pathways to serving the community often require an advanced degree, which not all formerly incarcerated individuals can access. Nonetheless, the findings indicate that public and policy discussions regarding issues of mass incarceration and recidivism should more consciously center the importance of experiential knowledge.
Source Article: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00938548241291027
