The impact of prison deinstitutionalization on community treatment services

Abstract

BackgroundWith one in every 108 Americans behind bars, the deinstitutionalization of prisons is a pressing issue for all those facing the daunting challenges of successfully reintegrating ex-offenders into both their communities and the larger society. Given the strong evidence that treatment services, such as mental/behavioral health, alcohol/substance abuse, and primary healthcare may reduce recidivism, the large number of prisoner releases highlights the need for adequate treatment services in the community. It is within this context that the current study aims to examine the effects of prison deinstitutionalization on community based intervention modalities.MethodsThis study set out to address a set of fundamental research questions in the current climate of reversing the 40-year upward trend in prison population. This thread of inquiry is based on a hydraulic model of institutionalization of transinstitutionalization. This hydraulic framework posits that there are many overlaps between public safety and mental health needs, and that psychiatric institutionalization and penal institutionalization are functionally dependent. Longitudinal data with annual standardized measures such as rates and percentages for this change modeling were obtained from a number of national data programs for all 50 states. Our analytical focus concentrated on the second half of the decade of the 2000s.ResultsChange in the state imprisonment rate was negatively correlated with change in the rate of substance abuse treatment admissions (r = -0.24; p < .05) and the change in the rate of inpatient admissions in state psychiatric hospitals (r = 0.10; p > .05) as predicted. However, only the bivariate association between imprisonment and substance abuse treatment admissions attained the conventional threshold of statistical significance. Holding constant the direct and indirect effects of changes in the rates of violent crime and illicit drug use, change in prison population was negatively associated with changes in the rate of substance abuse (unstandardized coefficient = -0.891; p < 0.05) and mental health admissions (unstandardized coefficient = -0.509; p > 0.05) in the community.ConclusionBy using a path analysis of the hydraulic model, we argue that social systems, similar to water moving in closed tubes, aspire to equilibrate. In other words, a decrease in prison population will not go without a corresponding increase in community mental health and substance abuse services. Social voids like those created by deinstitutionalization must be filled; and with states deinstitutionalizing offenders the toll is on their corresponding communities to address the needs of those offenders who are reentering after being incarcerated. In devising a policy and practice strategy to address the projected increase in the reentry population, leadership within communities for social and supportive services to ex-prisoners, specifically treatment services should be of primary concern.

The reciprocal lagged effects of substance use and recidivism in a prisoner reentry context

“…This seems especially important given the recent decline in incarcerated populations (Frazier, Sung, Gideon, & Alfaro, 2015). Like Taxman and Belenko (2012)—who argue that the public health and public safety goals of community corrections need not be in conflict with one another—our data suggest that community correctional agencies may better achieve the goal of reducing both drug use and reoffending by adopting a social and health service paradigm over a strictly law enforcement model.…”

“…On a practical level, our findings suggest that—in addition to addressing known criminogenic areas such as substance use in the reintegration process—community correctional agencies such as probation and parole should seek to identify the varied needs of their returning inmate populations, and repeat this process over the course of parole in order to provide appropriate services for multiple compounding needs. This seems especially important given the recent decline in incarcerated populations (Frazier, Sung, Gideon, & Alfaro, 2015 ). Like Taxman and Belenko ( 2012 )—who argue that the public health and public safety goals of community corrections need not be in conflict with one another—our data suggest that community correctional agencies may better achieve the goal of reducing both drug use and reoffending by adopting a social and health service paradigm over a strictly law enforcement model.…”

Limites e desafios para o acesso das mulheres privadas de liberdade e egressas do sistema prisional nas Redes de Atenção à Saúde

“…As consequências negativas estão associadas à inexistência de um plano de cuidado para o processo da saída do cárcere: a usuária pode ficar sem medicamento até conseguir acessar o serviço de referência territorial; pode ter "recaída" (P9) ou fazer uso abusivo de drogas; e, não menos importante, reincidir e sofrer novo processo de reencarceramento, estimulando o fenômeno de "porta giratória" nas prisões (FRAZIER et al, 2015). Identificam-se tais situações no subsequente conjunto de excertos:…”

Understanding attachment styles, adverse childhood events, alcohol use, and trauma in Black and Latino Men with criminal justice histories

“…For example, the state of New York incarcerates Black men at a rate that is eight times higher than White individuals and incarcerates Latinos at a rate that is over three times higher than Whites (The Sentencing Project, 2019). While the United States continues to imprison significantly higher rates of Black and Latino individuals, at least 95% of incarcerated individuals will eventually return to their communities (U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2018), a process known as community re-entry (Frazier et al, 2015). For instance, in New York, approximately 150,000 individuals returned to their communities from prison in 2019 (The Sentencing Project, 2019).…”