Transportation Barriers to Successful Reentry among Returning Citizens: A Qualitative Interpretive Meta-synthesis

• Author: Michael B. Mitchell,Stephen Mattingly,Sara R. Leat,Craig Keaton,Anne Nordberg,Jaya B. Davis
• DOI: 10.1177/00328855211029894
• Published date: 01 September 2021
• Date: 01 September 2021
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/00328855211029894

The Prison Journal

2021, Vol. 101(4) 488 –506

© 2021 SAGE Publications

Article reuse guidelines:

sagepub.com/journals-permissions

DOI: 10.1177/00328855211029894

journals.sagepub.com/home/tpj

Article

Transportation Barriers

to Successful Reentry

among Returning

Citizens: A Qualitative

Interpretive Meta-

synthesis

Anne Nordberg1, Jaya B. Davis1, Sara R. Leat2,

Stephen Mattingly1, Craig Keaton1,

and Michael B. Mitchell3

Abstract

Over 600,000 individuals return to United States communities from

prison each year. Transportation has been identified as a major barrier

to successful reentry. Applying qualitative interpretive meta-synthesis

to achieve a deep understanding of reentry transportation obstacles,

11 articles with 362 male and female participants were identified. Two

themes emerged from our analysis: (1) “Transportation connects complex

obligations,” highlighting the critical role that transportation plays in the

successful navigation of post-release conditions; and (2) “Transportation

deficiencies exacerbate vulnerability,” revealing how transportation factors

intertwine with structural issues to increase precarity.

Keywords

reentry experiences, transportation barriers, qualitative interpretive meta-

synthesis

1University of Texas at Arlington, USA

2Univesity of Memphis, TN, USA

3The College of NJ, USA

Corresponding Author:

Anne Nordberg, University of Texas at Arlington School of Social Work, Social Work

Complex-A, Room 211, 211 S. Cooper Street, Box 19129, Arlington, TX 76019, USA.

Email: annenordberg@uta.edu

1029894TPJXXX10.1177/00328855211029894The Prison JournalNordberg et al.

research-article2021

Nordberg et al. 489

Introduction

In 2017, 622,400 individuals returned to their communities from prison

(returning citizens) in the United States (US) (Bronson & Carson, 2019).

Recently, the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics reported that 83% of those

released from incarceration will be re-arrested within 9 years (Alper et al.,

2018). This finding helps to explain the cycle that brings people through U.S.

jails 10,000,000 times annually and accounts for a re-incarceration rate of

55% in 5 years after release (Sawyer & Wagner, 2019).

Unsuccessful reentry jeopardizes community safety, promotes re-incar-

ceration, and increases costs to taxpayers to support the criminal justice appa-

ratus. Research estimates that each recidivism event costs approximately

$150,000, half of which is born by victims of crime, a third by tax-payers,

and the remainder is indirect costs (State of Illinois Sentencing Policy

Advisory Council, 2018). At a national level, these costs account for 2.9% of

the U.S. GDP, roughly $500 billion (Council of Economic Advisors, 2018).

There is research evidence that strong networks of support reduce recidi-

vism, but most communities remain ill-equipped to successfully support

returning citizens who face a patchwork of logistical hurdles. These include

court-mandated obligations, scarce offender resources, and critical mental

health and health services. In addition, available housing, employment, and

access to transportation have been identified as major barriers to successful

reentry (La Vigne et al., 2008; Morani et al., 2011).

Consistent with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s active engage-

ment with “environmental justice,” a commitment to minority and low-income

people to “a fast, safe, efficient, accessible, and convenient transportation

system for communities nationwide” (USDOT, n.d.), returning citizens are

highlighted here as a previously unconsidered environmental justice (EJ) pop-

ulation. While many EJ populations sustain mobility challenges and con-

straints, this particular group faces some of the most significant barriers.

This article uses Qualitative Interpretive Meta-Synthesis (QIMS) (Aguirre

& Bolton, 2013, 2014) to synthesize published qualitative research on trans-

portation issues faced by returning citizens. Therefore, the research question

is: what are the transportation experiences of returning citizens?

Literature Review

At the end of 2016, 6,613,500 persons were under correctional supervision

(U.S. Bureau of Statistics, 2018a) and of these, 4,537,100 were under probation

or parole (U.S. Bureau of Statistics, 2018b). For some exiting the prison envi-

ronment, successful reentry can be a daunting task. Kirkpatrick (2018) found