Barriers to Reentry

The general public seeks to understand why criminals more often than not re-offend. The last statistic I've seen on recidivism was something like 70 percent of those who commit an offense will re-offend. There is an overwhelming list of barriers that offenders face during transition. These barriers include transportation issues, lack of education, housing issues, substance abuse issues, and difficulty finding employment. In my current position at a work release, I attempt to help men address some of these issues while they are in the transition phase. I teach a group ranging from 20-30 men on a weekly basis as they enter the facility. The demographic make up of these groups varies by age, race, previous occupation, length of time incarcerated and convictions. Here is a breakdown of the barrier variations among these groups.

Age- The men I instruct between the ages of 18 and 30 tend to take the process less seriously than the older clients. This is a known factor within the field of reentry. It is as if they have not experienced the criminal justice system enough to want to change. On the flip side, the older men often have no computer knowledge and struggle with the process of online job searching and resume development.

• Case Example 1: One gentleman I instructed over the age of 50 wanted to create an email account. I worked with him for over an hour trying to get an account set up. A few weeks later, the same gentleman came to me for help again because he had forgotten how to log in to his email. 
• Case Example 2: A younger gentleman came to my classes and had no motivation for change at all. After failing to complete the classes the first week, he had to come back again the next week. Yet again he failed to comply. At this point he was sent before the disciplinary hearing board. I suspect this young man had never experienced any success and therefore was comfortable with failure. 

Race- Statistically African-American males are more likely to experience incarceration and many of the African-American men I work with are aware of this fact. This puts them in the mindset that they will fail and society is working against them. I have encountered a few clients who rationalize their inability to succeed because they are "black males." My goal with clients in this mentality is to point out how this particular attitude among other barriers they have created for themselves is part of the reason for lack of success. Often these men have appearance issues, limited work experience, and inappropriate language that I notice long before we discuss race.

Previous Occupation- Many of the men I work with have little or no work experience. Some of the men have had careers in fields that they can no longer work in. Two men in particular come to mind.

• Case Example 1: A young man asked me during class one day, "What if I have no work history?" I asked him how old he was and he said 23. I then asked, "Did you perform any jobs while incarcerated?" His response: "No, I did my time, I was not going to work for the state." I was fascinated by this mentality! I then told him, "Well, congratulations! Now you are 23 years old with no education and no work experience to compliment your felony conviction, and you are in a work release where you are forced to find employment! You sure showed them!" I know this was harsh, but it hit home with him and the other men in the room.
• Case Example 2: An older man in his fifties had many years of experience as a brick-layer. He was concerned with his age and his ability to perform the physically demanding labor. He brought in a folder full of drawings and asked what I thought he should go to college for to pursue a graphic design-type career. I was impressed with his ambition, but I told him he had to have realistic expectations. Graphic Design is a very competitive field so I suggested he take his years of construction experience along with his artistic talent, and consider a more reasonable field like draftsmanship or architectural design. 

Length of Time Incarcerated- Several men I work with have been incarcerated for 10 or more years and this is the first part of their transition back into society. Others have been revolving in an out of prison their entire adult life. The men who have had lengthy prison sentences often take the classes more seriously, however, they have the additional barriers of years of no job history along with very limited if any computer skills.

Convictions- Many of the men have multiple convictions so convincing employers that they made a mistake and want a second chance is difficult. The type of conviction is also a barrier to employment in certain fields. I encountered one young man with many years of retail experience and a cosmetology background. Unfortunately his convictions were theft-related so pursuing a career in retail will be next to impossible for him.

Working with this wide range of demographics forces me to use my anthropological skills while teaching. I recognize the classes as a whole are a culture of men who have shared similar life experiences, but each individual comes from a different cultural background and I have to view each class from both the individual and collective perspective.

Basis of Our Research

The research my partner and I conducted was specifically focused around women returning to society from prison. While men and women have different barriers to reentry, the overall process is much the same. Following is an excerpt from our thesis that summarizes our research:

"The United States currently houses a higher percentage of its population in prisons than any other country in the world. It only seems natural that a reevaluation of our criminal justice system needs to take place. Are there a higher number of people committing punishable crimes or are the people committing crimes having increased difficulty recovering from their mistakes? Our belief in regard to this question is that the increase in people behaving erratically is in correlation with our society's lack of support systems and programs for those who have broken the law, served their sentence, and rejoined their communities as free citizens."

For those who need the hard statistics, as of January 1, 2010, there were 1,404,053 persons under the jurisdiction of state prison authorities. This figure is actually the first decrease of state inmate totals in 38 years. However, 1.4 million people in prison is not a figure to be proud of. Reentry initiatives are becoming a new trend as states recognize the benefits of alternative sentencing. Alternative sentencing includes diversion programs, probation or community corrections sentences, and rehabilitative programs as opposed to lengthy prison sentences. The Pew Center on the States is an excellent resource for statistical and analytical information on the the state of reentry among other topics. Below is the link to the corrections and public safety section of their website.


http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/report_detail.aspx?id=57653

I hope I have given a somewhat adequate explanation of the basis of our research. I will elaborate further on facts and figures throughout the documentation process.

Anthropology Defined

The science of human beings; especially : the study of human beings and their ancestors through time and space and in relation to physical character, environmental and social relations, and culture.

 

From: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anthropology

 

Okay, so this is a very vague definition but it opens the door to understanding the different sub-fields within Anthropology. Included in the American version of the discipline are the sub-fields of archaeology, cultural and physical anthropology, primatology, and my favorites- socio-cultural and applied anthropology. In a nutshell, anthropology studies the holistic, or entire human experience. Modern anthropologists are creatively exploring new territory. Applied anthropologists seek to use their training in real world settings to address social issues. This is the field of anthropology that allows me to enter into the bullpen of reentry.

Background

At some point during my young adult years I picked up a book that turned out to be an ethnography by an Anthropologist. Little did I know at that time,  I would enter into the Anthropology Degree Program at IUPUI. During my tenure as an undergraduate, a fellow student and I completed a year long research project on prisoner reentry. We discovered the lack of research that has been performed on this topic, the need for this type of research and why it should be a vital part of Anthropology.

Upon graduation I pursued the contacts we had made during our research. Pace, Inc is a 501c3 non-profit organization that specializes in assisting ex-offenders with the transition from incarceration to the community. I began to volunteer at Pace while I performed the dreaded "recent graduate" job search to no avail. In late September of 2010, I received a call from the Pace staff with an open position they wanted to interview me for. At 29 years old, I accepted my first salary position doing exactly what I had become rather obsessed about doing during my "rite of passage" into true responsible adulthood! I now work at a men's work release facility for Pace, Inc. My responsibilities include providing job and life skills, resume assistance, computer skills and case management services to incoming residents at the facility.

I often get asked the question, "What is Anthropology? Isn't it digging up bones?" Well, let me just say that as anthropology students we grappled with that question over and over until we were able to understand enough about what it really means to be an anthropologist to give a somewhat decent explanation. Now that I am working in the reentry field, I also have to explain how my career has anything to do with anthropology. If you're reading this you might be asking the same thing so let's start with a decent definition of Anthropology...