The goal of this project is to understand how the process of desistance from crime is shaped by neighborhood context and residential change. First, in terms of context, evidence suggests that the removal and return of prisoners to and from communities undermines neighborhood stability, creates a demand on resources, contributes to fear of crime and negative affect towards the community, and contributes to ex-prisoner recidivism. In addition, communities may vary in the level of stigma they exhibit towards former prisoners. Second, residential change is a potentially key turning point in the life course of desisting offenders. Yet given economic and social constraints, former prisoners are unlikely to move to communities with adequate resources and they often move to areas with large numbers of former prisoners. While community context and residential change are linked to reoffending and desistance, the mechanisms of these effects are less well understood.
This project will utilize in depth interviews and participant observation to explore the mechanisms underlying neighborhood influences on former prisoner desistance. Data come from two sources: 1) Participant observation and interviews with residents and community leaders in three neighborhoods that are strategically chosen to represent variation in former prisoner concentration. 2) Repeated interviews with recently released prisoners; respondents will be interviewed once shortly before their release from prison and four times in the community. Male and female respondents will be recruited, with special attention to those who will be released to the three target communities. In addition, the research team will attempt to recruit a mix of those who are moving to a new neighborhood and those returning to a previous neighborhood.
Together, these data will provide valuable information to better understand the impact of community context and residential change on former prisoner desistance, how communities view and respond to returning prisoners, and how former prisoners understand and experience their neighborhood context. Findings may inform criminal justice policies and programs, such as those around release and parole supervision, to decrease recidivism and support desistance efforts.
