The Facilitators and Barriers Faced When Transitioning Back into the Community Following a Prison Sentence

• Author: Kaylin Buck,Adelaide Cochran,Hallie Young,Morgan J. Gordon,Hon K. Yuen,Sarah C. Tucker
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X211013518
• Published date: 01 August 2022
• Date: 01 August 2022
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X211013518

International Journal of

Offender Therapy and

Comparative Criminology

2022, Vol. 66(10-11) 1156 –1174

© The Author(s) 2021

Article reuse guidelines:

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DOI: 10.1177/0306624X211013518

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Article

The Facilitators and Barriers

Faced When Transitioning

Back into the Community

Following a Prison Sentence

Kaylin Buck1, Adelaide Cochran1, Hallie Young1,

Morgan J. Gordon1, Hon K. Yuen1,

and Sarah C. Tucker1

Abstract

This qualitative study explored ex-offender’s community reintegration experiences

following a prison sentence. Fourteen ex-offenders from the Offender Alumni

Association participated in an in-person in-depth individual interview regarding their

current roles, daily routines, living situation, activity participation, and current and

future plans. A phenomenological approach using thematic analysis was employed

for data collection and interpretation. The emerged themes were categorized

under facilitators and barriers that influence healthy community reintegration. The

facilitators included visualizing and committing to an ideal future, establishing a daily

routine, upholding life balance, and discovering and connecting to external supports.

The barriers included impediments to employment opportunities, lack of financial

resources, social stigma, regulations imposed by the judicial system, disconnection

from social advancements, and addiction to drugs and alcohol. The themes identified

from the interviews suggest that current reintegration strategies and programs need

to be improved in order to benefit ex-offenders seeking these services.

Keywords

criminals, community integration, qualitative research

1University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA

Corresponding Author:

Hon K. Yuen, Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Health Professions, University of Alabama

at Birmingham, 1530 3rd Avenue South, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA.

Email: yuen@uab.edu

1013518IJOXXX10.1177/0306624X211013518International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative CriminologyBuck et al.

research-article2021

Buck et al. 1157

During the journey of community reintegration, many ex-offenders may experience

the psychological pull of powerlessness and inevitability of falling back into negative

social networks, vicious cycles of substance misuse and repeated crime (Larsen et al.,

2019), which can leave these individuals in an unstable condition at the genesis of

their post-prison lives. It is well-documented that successful reintegration into society

can be influenced by ex-offenders’ family connections and support (Chikadzi, 2017;

Davis et al., 2013; Richie, 2001), residential security (Garland et al., 2011), employ-

ment stability (Davis et al., 2013; Garland et al., 2011; Morozova et al., 2013), and

access to welfare services (Chikadzi, 2017; Larsen et al., 2019) during the transition

period. Ex-offenders’ pre-incarceration social connections, or lack thereof, as well as

their personal perceptions about life, are also important determinants of success or

failure in reintegration into society (Davis et al., 2013; Grommon & Rydberg, 2018).

Prison life is known to force inmates to conform and adapt to the incarceration

environment, making them less equipped for life outside of prison (de Wet, 2005).

Everyday habits are altered in favor of successful integration into local prison culture

rather than community culture outside prison walls (van Dooren et al., 2011). Some

researchers extend this sentiment even further, positing that the prison system has the

ability to hinder a person’s growth and overall way of life by altering the individual’s

habits, routines, and behaviors in a manner that does not correlate to lifestyle in con-

temporary society (de Wet, 2005). Some inmates have identified these prison-specific

norms to be the way of life which has a tendency to leave a persistent, negative post-

prison impact (Chikadzi, 2017). Other inmates, however, grow to recognize prison as

a pseudo-safe space in which they preserve abstinence from criminal behavior, which

is hard to duplicate in the community due to the social barriers that confront them upon

release (Larsen et al., 2019).

Following release, an ex-offender’s reputation is often rooted in their criminal

record and the consequential perception of untrustworthiness. This perception deepens

and solidifies when ex-offenders attempt reintegration into society with a dearth of

savings, limited ability to generate income, few supports, an overall lack of work and

life skills, experiences, and limited understanding of present-day social norms (Brown,

2004; Soeker et al., 2013). Instead of building new lifestyles alongside non-criminals

and flourishing citizens, ex-offenders experience stigma, the perception that they no

longer fit into the society, and the consequential feelings of defeatism following social

rejection (de Wet, 2005). Research found the absence of acceptance, and the means to

be accepted, can be the catalyst for a variety of emotional reactions that can lead to

relapse into the maladaptive activities that preceded the ex-offender’s original sen-

tence (Brown, 2004).

During the process of community reintegration, many ex-offenders attempt to

adopt the lifestyle of a productive and prosperous citizen. However, the new social

identity of ex-offenders can result in significant discrimination and social deprivation

which in turn negatively impacts successful community reintegration. Social depriva-

tion is described as a state in which individuals are precluded from opportunities to

engage in meaningful and necessary daily activities due to environmental factors out-

side of their control (Whiteford, 2000). Wilcock (2005) discussed that prolonged