Challenges of Prisoner Re-Entry Into Society

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Private Prison vs. Public Prisons
Reasons for Rearrests among the Inmates
Conclusion
References

Introduction

In the United States, most prisoners encounter many challenges in adapting to the new environment, which makes them less productive in society. They face a lot of challenges because before being released, they had not undergone re-socialization. There have been increased re-arrest cases in the United States among the prisoners who have recently been released (Wodahl & Freng, 2017). It becomes an essential consideration for the prisons to ensure that they are engaging the inmates with re-socialization sessions to ensure that they are produced within the community. The re-socialization sessions will make them productive in society. The following paper will look at an overview of the prisons and why most inmates end back in prison due to a lack of re-socialization before being released.

Private Prison vs. Public Prisons

In the United States, there are two types of prisons: private prisons and non-private prisons. A lot of differences exist between private and public prisons, which should be noted. Most of the prisons owned by individuals are profit-driven and are not obliged to give the state reports on the organization of the internal work of facilities (“Pros and cons,” n.d.). This fact makes it possible for private prisons to save costs on prisoners by providing them with worse living conditions, lower salaries for prisoners and employees, as well as limited education and socialization programs. At the same time, public prisons offer reports on the money spent on prisoners, since they are provided by the state; hence, the managers of public prisons are less interested in saving money (“Pros and cons,” n.d.). Consequently, the main differences between private and public prisons are based on the financial motives of their owners and directly affect the opportunities for re-socialization of prisoners.

Both private and public prisons are created to contain people who have violated the law. The private prisons are run by private and third-party companies but not the government, which is in charge of public prisons (“Pros and cons,” n.d.). The state supports the private prisons through funding, which is enabled in contracts that they enter into by the government. Private prisons’ funds depend on the number of inmates they are holding and their time in prisons (“Pros and cons,” n.d.). Therefore, it means that private prisons are focused on holding the inmates to get profits, not teaching them about re-socializing with other people. This goal of private prisons leads to several disadvantages that affect the re-socialization of inmates. According to the report In the Public Interest (2016), inmates in private prisons have a higher recidivism rate, which is associated with greater cruelty, remoteness of inmates from family, and lack of telephone communication with relatives and friends. In addition, salaries and availability of funds in private prisons are also lower (“Private prisons,” 2020). This factor can discourage staff from making efforts to ensure the re-socialization of prisoners.

On the other hand, public prisons are operated by the government, and in most cases, they serve as non-profit facilities. The government has complete control to determine the types of inmates who will go to a particular government incarceration facility. They get government funding through the taxes they pay. Hence, public prisons are required to release statements on how the operations are being run within the prison to account for how the public money is being used (“Pros and cons,” n.d.). At the same time, government funding also has limitations and requirements; consequently, when it is lacking, public prisons can reduce the costs of resocialization programs to provide prisoners with the appropriate living conditions. For these reasons, most of the inmates have faced re-arrests a few years after being released from prison.

Reasons for Rearrests among the Inmates

Individual Reasons

Various reasons result from recidivism due to the lack of re-socialization of inmates once released from the prison. The reasons can be explained under different levels, including the individual level, family/small groups level, and organizational or group levels. Individual-level challenges are some of the primary reasons for inmates going back to prison after being released without re-socialization sessions. For example, when a person has been arrested, it is nearly impossible for such a person to secure an employment opportunity than the other person in the general population (Perez-Feliciano et al., 2020). Most employers have a stigma, which makes it hard for them to be trusted. In addition, after a long stay in prison, most of the released people continue to use prison vocabulary and are unable to express themselves in a socially acceptable way. According to Symbolic Interactionism theory, individuals will find it hard to communicate well with others within their social contexts (Dillon, 2020). Hence, this makes the inmates lack the professional network and employers’ requirements to be looking into employment.

Family Reasons

The other reason that leads to re-arrests among the inmates who have been released from the prison before re-socialization is related to the family. During the time that inmates have to spend in prison, there is limited contact with family members. For example, private prisons are often far from the homes of prisoners and their families, and telephone services are expensive and limited (In the Public Interest, 2020). Consequently, prisoners lose touch with their families and friends, which prevents them from re-socializing. In addition, little communication with the outside world prevents prisoners from receiving the latest news and changes. Thus, a person may feel alienated from society after his or her release, and family and friends’ absence prevents this connection from being restored. Hence, the chances of repeating the same mistakes that made them get arrested are high.

Societal Expectations

The other reason why the inmates may end up in prison again is expectations. In prison, they are not taught about some of the expectations and changes in society. As time changes, some things will change in the societal context. Hence, this may negatively impact some of the prisoners who may take a long incarceration time in prison (Ouellette et al., 2017). Some of the changes that they might encounter are technological advancements. However, since private prisons often save money for profit, and public ones depend on government funding, staff and training programs are often lacking. Thus, prisoners lack the skills and competencies that they need to do specific jobs. This means that a more significant percentage of them will remain jobless. Unemployment can increase social issues, which is a clear indicator that there will be higher chances of committing crimes and being re-arrested.

When most of the inmates are released without re-socialization, they will have the notion that they are being treated negatively. Most prisons, both private and public, have been ignorant of teaching individuals about their rights and what life would be like when released from prison. Some of the conditions required of the people released from the prison include remaining in some geographic regions, requiring permission to live in a particular apartment, and even being denied the right to visit public places. They are not aware of such constraints, and the prisons have not taken any responsibility for letting them know about such legal requirements (Ortiz & Jackey, 2019). When they are caught up in certain areas that prohibit people with an arrest history, they will be taken back to jail. This is not because they are on the wrong side, but because they were not taught about re-socialization and how they can fit into society.

Moreover, people who have spent a long time in prison face unfamiliar patterns of behavior and social interaction, as well as the stigma that society puts on them. For example, technological advances have significantly changed the interactions between people in personal and professional life over the past decade. Consequently, a person who is not familiar with current trends may feel alienated. At the same time, the lack of basic skills, combined with stigma, separates this person from society, since he or she does not coincide with its expectations and requirements. Consequently, it is easier for people released from prison to turn to the criminal world because they are familiar with patterns of interactions, and rules, and possibly have old social connections.

Conclusion

Therefore, this review demonstrates that the most common reason for the re-arrest of former prisoners is the lack of prisoners’ social communication and interaction skills. The limited access of prisoners to communicate with family, friends, and the outside world leads to the loss of social contacts necessary for reintegration into society. At the same time, the lack of education in the essential social, professional, and technical skills, combined with the stigma of an offender, hinders the employment and self-sufficiency of released people. The lack of interaction with the outside world and understanding of the principles and patterns of social interaction also makes people recently released from prison feel alienated. For this reason, people turn to the familiar world of crime, where they can find familiar patterns of interaction and means of living. In addition, the survey demonstrates that private prisons have more significant problems in providing opportunities for re-socialization of inmates since their financial motives push them to save money by avoiding educational and re-socialization programs.

References

In the Public Interest. (2016). How private prison companues increase recidivism. In the Public Interest. Web.

Introduction to sociological theory: Theorists, concepts, and their applicability to the twenty-first century (3rd ed.). John Wiley & Sons.

Li, M., (2018). From prisons to communities: Confronting re-entry challenges and social inequality. Web.

Ortiz, J. M., & Jackey, H. (2019). The system is not broken, it is intentional: The prisoner reentry industry as deliberate structural violence. The Prison Journal, 99(4), 484-503. Web.

Ouellette, H. M., Applegate, B. K., & Vuk, M. (2017). The public’s stance on prisoner reentry: Policy support and personal acceptance. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 42(4), 768-789. Web.

Perez-Feliciano, L., Adams, M., & Nayer, G. (2020). Returning inmates and their families: Public Policy Issues for Successful Prisoner Reentry. Journal of Administrative Sciences and Policy Studies, 8(2), 1-9. Web.

Private prisons vs. public prisons and its application in networks. (2020). Web.

Pros and cons of private prisons. (n.d.). Web.

Wodahl, E. J., & Freng, A. (2017). The challenges of prisoner reentry faced by Native American returning offenders. Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice, 15(2), 160-184. Web.

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