Brick Walls Facing Reentering Offenders

Citizenship is a birthright generally afforded to all members of society. Upon reentry to the community from prison, offenders are expected to assume a citizenship role; however, existing structural barriers, as well as the actions and behaviors of law enforcement and community agencies, may reinforce the outcast persona. The offender needs social and psychological support to sustain a citizenship role, and the conditions of the current criminal justice environment may serve to undermine this support. Borrowing from procedural justice theories, this paper presents some of the sociopolitical challenges to the citizenship goal for offenders and provides some options to create an environment in which the offender can thrive and maintain a role as citizen. This paper also focuses on reducing the churning of offenders and select communities and identifies mechanisms to embrace the citizenship role such as building the self‐efficacy of offenders, employment programs that assist offenders in becoming economically and psychologically independent, and systemic processes to promote fairness and equity.