When Prisoners Come Home: Parole and Prisoner Reentry (Studies in Crime and Public Policy)

Every year, hundreds of thousands of jailed Americans leave prison and return to society. Largely uneducated, unskilled, often without family support, and with the stigma of a prison record hanging over them, many if not most will experience serious social and psychological problems after release. Fewer than one in three prisoners receive substance abuse or mental health treatment while incarcerated, and each year fewer and fewer participate in the dwindling number of vocational or educational pre-release programs, leaving many all but unemployable. Not surprisingly, the great majority is rearrested, most within six months of their release. What happens when all those sent down the river come back up--and out? As long as there have been prisons, society has struggled with how best to help prisoners reintegrate once released. But the current situation is unprecedented. As a result of the quadrupling of the American prison population in the last quarter century, the number of returning offenders dwarfs anything in America's history. What happens when a large percentage of inner-city men, mostly Black and Hispanic, are regularly extracted, imprisoned, and then returned a few years later in worse shape and with dimmer prospects than when they committed the crime resulting in their imprisonment? What toll does this constant "churning" exact on a community? And what do these trends portend for public safety? A crisis looms, and the criminal justice and social welfare system is wholly unprepared to confront it. Drawing on dozens of interviews with inmates, former prisoners, and prison officials, Joan Petersilia convincingly shows us how the current system is failing, and failing badly. Unwilling merely to sound the alarm, Petersilia explores the harsh realities of prisoner reentry and offers specific solutions to prepare inmates for release, reduce recidivism, and restore them to full citizenship, while never losing sight of the demands of public safety. As the number of ex-convicts in America continues to grow, their systemic marginalization threatens the very society their imprisonment was meant to protect. America spent the last decade debating who should go to prison and for how long. Now it's time to decide what to do when prisoners come home.

Politics & Social Sciences

Petersilia, Joan

Social Sciences

Oxford University Press

Racial Disparities in the Criminal Justice System (Rand Report)

UNKNO

Petersilia, Joan, Turner, Susan, Kahan, James, Peterson, Joyce

Granting Felons Probation: Public Risks and Alternatives (Rand Report)

Turner, Susan

Kahan, James

Peterson, Joyce

Prison Versus Probation in California: Implications for Crime and Offender Recidivism (Rand Report)

Peterson, J.

Turner's

Peterson, Joyce E.

Influence of Criminal Justice Research / R-3516

The number one issue of concern to Americans today is predatory crime, and we are pouring billions of dollars into programs designed to combat its threat. But how have these measures succeeded - or failed - in fighting crime? Now, Crime provides the authoritative evidence we need to understand the consequences of our policy choices. In one volume, preeminent criminologists Wilson and Petersilia have assembled leading experts from a variety of disciplines, philosophies, and political viewpoints for the most important evaluation of crime prevention and control strategies in more than a decade. Crime systematically grapples with the most persistent and controversial questions in the study of crime and violence: Why do some people become chronic, ungovernable criminals? Can gun control laws reduce violent crime? Does televised violence cause real violence? Do community alternatives to prison make matters better or worse? All the central issues in today's crime debate are covered in this book, including the effects of biomedical, family, neighborhood, and economic factors on criminality; how prosecutors and judges deal with offenders; the special problem of juvenile crime and gangs; the growth in prison populations and its effects - and much more. Many of the policies now being implemented do not reflect the current state of knowledge about what works and what doesn't in crime control. Crime explores reality-based alternatives that have the potential to restore the confidence in public safety that is essential to a strong civil society.

Crime

Wilson, James Q.

Reference

Ics Pr

Reforming Probation and Parole: In the 21st Century

Amer Correctional Assn

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Petersilia, Joan. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Petersilia, Joan