Research/Document Library

Baltimore Prisoners' Experiences Returning Home

The Urban Institute, in 2001, launched a four-state, longitudinal study of prisoner reentry entitled Returning Home: Understanding the Challenges of Prisoner Reentry, beginning with a pilot study in Maryland. The first phase of the pilot study involved an analysis of preexisting corrections data to describe Maryland's incarceration and reentry characteristics. The second phase of the pilot study involved a series of interviews with prisoners returning to the city of Baltimore, once before and twice after they were released. In addition, interviews with family members of some of the prisoners in our sample were conducted, as were focus groups with residents in two of the Baltimore communities that are home to high concentrations of returning prisoners. This research brief documents the findings from phase two, the primary data collection effort, and provides empirical evidence on the actual experiences of prisoners returning home to Baltimore. It presents key findings on a range of reentry challenges faced by these men and women following their release from prison and describes factors that relate to postrelease success or failure, such as employment, substance use, individuals' expectations and attitudes, health challenges, criminal histories, and the family and community contexts awaiting them.

Available online

http://www.urban.org/

Author(s)

Christy Visher, Vera Kachnowski, Nancy G. La Vigne, Jeremy Travis

Date

March 2004

State

Maryland

Publisher

Urban Institute