Community Correction Officer Perceptions Of Ex-Offender Reentry Needs And Challenges

Gunnison, Elaine; Helfgott, Jacqueline B.

doi:10.1007/s11896-007-9004-5

Cited by 11 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…The results from this study offer perspectives and insights from correctional wardens/superintendents and correctional staff-an important missing piece in the literature on reentry success to enhance work that has previously examined views of CCOs (Brown, 2004a;Brown, 2004b;Graffam et al, 2004;Gunnison & Helfgott, 2007;Gunnison & Helfgott 2013;Helfgott, 1997;Helfgott & Gunnison, 2008;Lutze, 2014). Lutze's (2014) important work on CCOs' professional lives as the "invisible side of reentry" highlights the need to recognize how system dysfunction can hinder reentry success and how the support, tools, education, and incentives available to CCOs in their everyday working realities impacts their ability to implement evidence-based practice in reentry.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…This study builds on previous research (Brown 2004a;Brown 2004b;Graffam et al, 2004;Gunnison & Helfgott, 2007;Gunnison & Helfgott 2013;Helfgott, 1997;Helfgott & Gunnison, 2008;Lutze, 2014) to fill the gap in the literature by examining the needs and challenges of formerly incarcerated individuals and successful reentry from correctional officials across the nationwardens and non-wardens. The perspectives on successful reentry from these professionals have not been heard to date.…”

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confidence: 89%

“…Similar to research emerging on reentry, over the past decade, research has emerged on state and federal correctional officers' perspectives about the needs and challenges formerly incarcerated individuals have during reentry (Brown, 2004a;Brown, 2004b;Graffam et al, 2004;Gunnison & Helfgott, 2007;Gunnison & Helfgott 2013;Helfgott, 1997;Helfgott & Gunnison, 2008). In 2002, Seiter examined 114 state parole officers in Missouri as to their perceptions of what is important to reentry and how their own job contributions could be a factor in successful reintegration.…”

Section: Correctional Perspectives On Needs and Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several researchers have explored whether criminal justice professionals are aware of the needs and challenges formerly incarcerated persons face upon reentry (Brown, 2004a;Brown, 2004b;Graffam et al, 2004;Gunnison & Helfgott, 2007;Gunnison & Helfgott 2013;Helfgott, 1997;Helfgott & Gunnison, 2008).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…For instance, Brown (2004a) examined perceptions of federal parole officers regarding formerly federally incarcerated persons' needs in Canada, and Graffam and colleagues (2004) examined criminal justice professionals' perceptions of formerly incarcerated persons' needs in Melbourne, Australia. Additionally, Gunnison & Helfgott (2007) examined community correction officers' (CCO) 1 perceptions of the needs of formerly incarcerated individuals, the value officers placed on the specific needs, and the opportunities available to meet their needs in Seattle, Washington. More recently, Lutze (2014) provided a comprehensive examination of the professional lives of CCOs and their critical involvement in reentry success.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Correctional Practitioners on Reentry: A Missed Perspective

Gunnison

Helfgott

Wilhelm

2015

JPER

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Much of the literature on reentry of formerly incarcerated individuals revolves around discussions of failures they incur during reintegration or the identification of needs and challenges that they have during reentry from the perspective of community corrections officers. The present research fills a gap in the reentry literature by examining the needs and challenges of formerly incarcerated individuals and what makes for reentry success from the perspective of correctional practitioners (i.e., wardens and non-wardens). The views of correctional practitioners are important to understand the level of organizational commitment to reentry and the ways in which social distance between correctional professionals and their clients may impact reentry success. This research reports on the results from an email survey distributed to a national sample of correctional officials listed in the American Correctional Association, 2012 Directory. Specifically, correctional officials were asked to report on needs and challenges facing formerly incarcerated individuals, define success, identify factors related to successful reentry, recount success stories, and report what could be done to assist them in successful outcomes. Housing and employment were raised by wardens and corrections officials as important needs for successful reentry. Corrections officials adopted organizational and systems perspectives in their responses and had differing opinions about social distance. Policy implications are presented. Elaine Gunnison is an Associate Professor in Criminal Justice at Seattle University. Her research specializations include offender reentry, corrections, criminology, and female offending. Jacqueline B. Helfgott is a Professor in Criminal Justice at Seattle University. Her research specializations include criminal behavior, psychopathy, corrections, offender reentry, victim impact in criminal justice decisionmaking, and restorative justice.Cecilie Wilhelm is an M.A. student at Seattle University. Her research interests are in offender reentry and harm reduction programming for offenders.

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