Crime and Justice

Publications on Crime/Justice

The number of people released from New Jersey prisons in 2002 was nearly four times the number released two decades ago. One-third of those released from prison in 2002 returned to two counties in the state, Essex and Camden, and many were even more concentrated within a few distressed neighborhoods. This report describes the process of prisoner reentry in New Jersey by examining the policy context surrounding reentry, the characteristics of New Jersey's returning inmates, the geographic distribution of returning prisoners, and the social and economic climates of the communities that are home to the highest concentrations of returning prisoners. [Note: PDF file is 7MB+ and may be slow to download depending on connection speeds]

This report describes the process of prisoner reentry* in Ohio by examining the policy context surrounding reentry in Ohio, the characteristics of inmates exiting Ohio prisons, the efforts to prepare inmates for release, the geographic distribution of prisoners returning home, and the social and economic climates of the communities that are home to some of the highest concentrations of released prisoners. This report does not attempt to evaluate a specific reentry program or empirically assess Ohio's reentry policies and practices. Rather, the report consolidates existing data on incarceration and release trends and presents a new analysis of data on Ohio prisoners released in 2001. [View the corresponding press release.]

The flow of prisoners leaving Ohio prisons tripled in 20 years, jumping from 8,522 in 1982 to 25,624 last year, according to a new report from the nonpartisan Urban Institute's Justice Policy Center. Sentencing-reform legislation implemented in mid-1996 contributed to a 44 percent increase in releases since 1997. [View the corresponding report]

This address was given at the 2003 National Conference of the International Community Corrections Association. It focuses on evidence-based practices and measures of effectiveness in the arena of corrections, prisoner reentry, and community corrections.

In 2001, researchers at the Urban Institute launched a pilot study in the state of Maryland for a four-state, longitudinal research project examining prisoner reentry. The first stage of the pilot involved self-administered surveys with 324 prisoners in the 30 to 90 days prior to their expected release. This paper describes the research procedures that were employed to obtain this baseline data and presents some preliminary findings from the survey of soon-to-be-released prisoners. The results presented include descriptive information on prisoner demographics, criminal histories, substance use, and family relationships, as well as correlation analyses of prisoner attitudes and expectations for life after release.

This report summarizes and assesses the state of knowledge about children and youth with disabilities who are at risk of delinquency and involvement in the juvenile justice system or have already entered it. Topics include (1) laws and philosophical frameworks affecting this population of youth; (2) causal relationships between disability, delinquency, and justice system involvement; (3) factors affecting disability and delinquency; (4) current and anticipated programming; (5) the effectiveness of prevention, intervention and treatment, and management strategies; (6) barriers and facilitators to implementing effective strategies; and (7) recommended "next steps" for increasing knowledge and effective practice. By highlighting what is known about addressing delinquency and the diverse needs among this population, it aims to inform policy discussions among policymakers, practitioners, and researchers.

The Opportunity to Succeed (OPTS) program was designed to reduce substance abuse relapse and criminal recidivism by providing comprehensive, case-managed reentry services to felony offenders who had drug offense histories. This article describes how a process and impact evaluation of the multisite OPTS program illuminates the importance of employment and related services for returning prisoners.

In 2001, researchers at the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C., launched a pilot study in the state of Maryland for a four-state, longitudinal research project examining prisoner reentry. The first stage of the pilot involved self-administered surveys with 324 prisoners in the 30 to 90 days prior to their expected release. These surveys presented many research challenges, including designing a self-administered instrument that would be accessible to the prison population, developing appropriate sampling and recruiting methods, and conducting research in a prison setting. This paper describes the research procedures that were employed to obtain this baseline data and presents some preliminary findings from our survey of soon-to-be-released prisoners. The results presented include descriptive information on prisoner demographics, criminal histories, substance use, and family relationships, as well as correlation analyses of prisoner attitudes and expectations for life after release.

Inmates about to leave Illinois prisons are confident they can pick up the pieces of their lives and make a successful return to society. However, extensive personal and family histories of crime and substance abuse, plus limited education and spotty job experience, could undermine their efforts, a new study from the nonpartisan Urban Institute concludes. [View the corresponding report]

This report is based on analyses of the prerelease surveys of 400 male prisoners returning to Chicago. It draws on descriptive statistics regarding respondents' criminal, substance abuse, and employment histories; current health problems; in-prison programming experiences; relationships with family members; and expectations for release. [View the corresponding press release]