This article brings the concept of incorporation as used in studies of citizenship into the analysis of the reception of ex-prisoners by non-governmental organizations (NGOs). I introduce the concept of 'prisoner incorporation' to illustrate the ways in which NGOs, tasked with reentry work through devolution policies, include ex-prisoners as citizens. I use data from policy and organizational documents, interviews with staff at 18 NGOs, and program observations to demonstrate that incorporation varies by religious and political orientation and the receipt of Department of Corrections (DOC) funding. I distinguish between NGOs focused on 'classic reentry', which emphasizes treatment and work-focused economic incorporation, and those focused on 'broader incorporation', in which domestic labor, culture, religion, and politics warrant the inclusion of ex-prisoners as citizens in particular communities. Based on the results, I reconsider arguments that NGOs have a limited ability to shape the citizenship of criminalized people.

This article investigates the involvement of the penal state in the lives of criminalized people as a controlling force that takes multiple forms. We offer the concept of modalities of penal control and identify three such modalities in addition to expressive punishment: interventionist penal control is accomplished in extralegal ways; covert penal control is hidden from public view; and negligent penal control is characterized by the absence of action by state actors. This article illustrates empirical cases of each modality, using data from three distinct projects based in Chicago, southern Wisconsin, and nationwide. The data include observations of post‐prison groups and homes, interviews with criminalized people and nongovernmental organizational (NGO) staff, statutes, and regulations. This expanded understanding of penal state involvement extends beyond the understanding that characterizes discussions of mass incarceration and highlights the need for comprehensive reform.

This article examines the relevance of religion for nongovernmental organizations that work with formerly incarcerated people. Despite the increased visibility of religious nongovernmental organizations working with criminalized people, research on the nongovernmental sector and criminal justice still largely focuses on secular organizations. This article argues for the conceptual importance of religion and its role shaping work in this sector, and draws from the sociology of religion to theorize the importance of discourses and practices in organizational settings. I present a typology identifying nongovernmental organizations' religious approaches, which I developed using archival, interview, and observational data from 18 nongovernmental organizations in Wisconsin. I differentiate among nongovernmental organizations that I call secular, which stay away from religion, religiously inspired, which operate based on religious principles, and reciprocally religious, which hold expectations of religious practices from program participants. Moving beyond single-case studies enables a comparative analysis of the ideas and practices among actors that serve and seek to shape people leaving prison, whose work varies in terms of predominant denominations, assumptions about morality and sin, and relationships with churches and the medical profession. The results encourage further inquiry into what religious nongovernmental organizations do, why, and how, given the distinctive discursive and material resources and practices that they bring into work with criminalized people.

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The Cycling Without Age (CWA) program provides residents of long-term care homes with a bike ride experience, as a volunteer pedals them around the community in a specially designed trishaw. There is limited evidence of the program's effectiveness on older adults, pilots, and communities. The purpose of this literature review is to scope and summarize contemporary CWA discourses to generate future research questions that will provide evidence for future implementation of CWA. Data collection and analysis followed Arksey and O'Malley's 2005 framework. A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, OMNI, and Ebscohost databases. A grey literature search strategy incorporated: grey literature databases, customized Google searches, targeted websites, consultation with expert librarians, and a social media analysis on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Content analysis was used to identify the key themes. A total of 165 sources (2 peer-reviewed, 103 grey literature, 60 social media) were included in the final analysis. The three main themes were (a) meaning from being on a bike, (2) impacts of CWA, and (3) formation of relationships. Findings suggest that the CWA program brought valuable meaning to the participants' lives, significantly improved their happiness, and was associated with the formation of new and diverse intergenerational relationships. A large amount of anecdotal evidence, social media chatter, and global adoption of CWA indicate its importance and potential to satisfy the need of older adults to engage with society. Future research on the physical and mental health benefits of CWA is required to support further implementation of the program.