WASHINGTON, D.C., April 12, 2005—Overlooked in the intense political and philosophical debates over America's punishment policies and expansive use of prisons, says Jeremy Travis, president of John Jay College of Criminal Justice, is the iron law of imprisonment: they all come back. With the rare exception of those who die in custody, every person sent to prison returns to live among us.
In 2002, more than 630,000 individuals left federal and state prisons, roughly 1,700 a day. Thirty years ago, just 150,000 men and women made a similar journey annually.
In his new Urban Institute Press book, But They All Come Back: Facing the Challenges of Prisoner Reentry, Travis argues that the reality of mass prisoner reentry and the need to reintegrate these men and women into society can create a new common ground for the development of criminal justice policy. There, he says, "the philosophical differences that have created the current cacophony of sentencing policies can be put to one side. There, policies designed to improve outcomes for returning prisoners, their families, and their communities can gain broad support."
In But They All Come Back, Travis explores the nexus between the modern reentry phenomenon and the nation's policies on employment, public health, families and children, housing, community strengthening, and civic participation. He lays out guideposts or yardsticks that practitioners, community leaders, policymakers, and advocates can use to reorganize criminal justice processes to improve the odds that reentry will succeed. Travis also puts forth politically realistic legislative reforms that would reorient the criminal justice system to support successful reentry.
"We live in an era of tight budgets, so the first imperative in a fiscally responsible reentry initiative should be to align existing resources to meet the reentry needs of returning prisoners at the time of highest risk, right when the prison gates close," says Travis, a former director of the National Institute of Justice and senior fellow at the Urban Institute. "Transitional housing, drug treatment, continuity in health care and medication, employment opportunities, and support networks should all be redirected to the moment of release."
About the Book
Part I of But They All Come Back provides a history of the dissolution of the American consensus about sentencing policy. It also describes three new realities of punishment: the growth in incarceration, the extended reach of supervision, and the expanded universe of "invisible punishment," including legal restrictions that put certain occupations or some federal benefits out of reach and that diminish the rights and privileges of those convicted of crimes.
Part II examines the impact of the current high levels of incarceration and reentry through the lenses of seven distinct policy domains-public safety, families and children, work, housing, public health, civic identity, and community capacity. Each chapter in this section concludes with a short essay that suggests new areas for research and policy development. Part III builds on these new ideas, proposing principles for successful reentry and building blocks for a new jurisprudence of prisoner reintegration. Throughout the book, Travis points to promising programs, innovative practices, and effective interventions.
"From one vantage point the reentry landscape is bleak and darkened by despair," says Travis. "Yet, there are unexpected pockets that fill me with great hope. In communities across the country, government officials, service providers, nonprofit leaders, and foundation executives are testing new strategies for meeting reentry challenges and improving reentry outcomes for former prisoners, their families and communities, and society at large."
Christopher Edley Jr., dean of the School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley, and former director of the Civil Rights Project at Harvard University, says, "This tour de force is perhaps the best policy book I've ever read—conceptually rich, empirically compelling, and savvy to boot. We've had a transformation in policing, and Travis now presents the why and how for reengineering the entire back end of the justice system—an agenda desperately important for communities triply burdened by concentrated crime, incarceration, and massive return of ex-felons. Everyone in the legal and policy communities concerned with crime and justice should read this book."
The Reality of Reentry
In 1973, there were just over 200,000 people in state and federal prisons; in 2003, there were 1.4 million people. According to the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics, about 5.6 million U.S. residents have served time in prison. At current incarceration rates, nearly 1 in 15 persons born in 2001 will be imprisoned during his or her lifetime.
Former prisoners face significant hurdles as they exit prison. Most leave with low educational levels, extensive family obligations, prior criminal involvement, and poor ties to the workforce. This population is also contending with extraordinarily high levels of communicable diseases, chronic disease, mental illness, and drug and alcohol addiction. For instance, an estimated 16 percent of state inmates have a mental condition or have spent at least one night in a mental hospital or a mental health facility. Some 450,000 prisoners released each year abused drugs or alcohol before entering prison.
Two-thirds of former prisoners will be re-arrested within three years of their release from prison, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Nearly half will be convicted of a new crime, and a quarter will return to prison for these new convictions.
To Order the Book
But They All Come Back: Facing the Challenges of Prisoner Reentry, by Jeremy Travis, is available from the Urban Institute Press for $32.50 (420 pages, ISBN 0-87766-750-0). Order online at www.uipress.org, call 202-261-5687, or dial 1-877-847-7377 toll-free.
The Urban Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan policy research and educational organization that examines the social, economic, and governance challenges facing the nation.
