families in society journal

Support4Families: A Proposed Intervention Model to Support Families of Individuals Returning Home From Incarceration

Published: | Author: Carrie Pettus-Davis

Leaving incarceration and returning home (i.e., reentry) affects individuals and their families; 90% of individuals releasing from prison rely on family for critical reentry supports. Although positive family support during this period is empirically linked to an individual’s success, providing support can place a substantial emotional, social, and fiscal toll on family units.

Category: Social Support
Deterioration of Postincarceration Social Support for Emerging Adults

Deterioration of Postincarceration Social Support for Emerging Adults

Published: | Author: Carrie Pettus-Davis, Elaine Eggleston Doherty, Christopher Veeh, Christina Drymon

More than 2.5 million emerging adults (ages 18-25) are incarcerated annually and most do poorly after release. Social support after an individual’s release from incarceration is a critical protective factor against recidivism for emerging adults. However, little is known about the stability of support for emerging adults post incarceration. This study uses hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to examine whether social support declines over time after incarceration and how change in support may vary by incarceration length. 

Category: Reentry, Social Support, Emerging Adults
Enhancing Social Support Postincarceration: Results From a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

Enhancing Social Support Postincarceration: Results From a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

Published: | Author: Carrie Pettus-Davis, Allison Dunnigan, Christopher Veeh, Matthew Owen Howard, Anna M. Scheyett, Amelia Roberts‐Lewis

Over 50% of released prisoners are reincarcerated within 3 years. Social support from loved ones postincarceration significantly reduces the likelihood of reincarceration. Increasingly, intervention developers aim to implement interventions that will enhance the stability of support available. This study responds to gaps in knowledge.

Category: Reentry, Social Support
Acceptability of a Social Support Intervention for Re-entering Prisoners

Acceptability of a Social Support Intervention for Re-entering Prisoners

Published: | Author: Carrie Pettus-Davis, Matthew Owen Howard, Vithya Murugan, Amelia Roberts-Lewis, Anna M. Scheyett, Claire Botnick, Michelle Vance

A relatively unexplored area of prisoner reentry programs involves actively engaging the prisoner’s naturally occurring social support in the reentry interventions. Most reentering prisoners rely on loved ones for social support, but that support is often fragile. Interventions that strengthen the sustainability of social support are crucial to a successful reentry. This study evaluates the acceptability of a social support intervention for male prisoners with substance-use disorders who are reentering the community. 

Category: Reentry, Social Support, Substance Use
Is Positive Social Support Available to Re-Entering Prisoners? It Depends on Who You Ask

Is Positive Social Support Available to Re-Entering Prisoners? It Depends on Who You Ask

Published: | Author: Carrie Pettus-Davis, Anna M. Scheyett, Misty Lewis

Re-entering prisoners have complex needs. Growing attention has turned to the role of informal social support in successful post-release outcomes. Research indicates informal supports are available to re-entering prisoners, yet this support can be experienced negatively and contribute to poor outcomes. We examined anticipated and received quality, source, and types of support for re-entering prisoners from perspectives of 60 re-entering prisoners and corrections professionals. We found re-entering prisoners anticipated and received what they considered positive support.

Category: Reentry, Social Support
Social support among releasing men prisoners with lifetime trauma experiences.

Social support among releasing men prisoners with lifetime trauma experiences.

Published: | Author: Carrie Pettus-Davis

High rates of lifetime trauma experiences exist among men incarcerated in US state and federal prisons. Because lifetime trauma experiences have been linked to problematic behavioral and psychiatric outcomes for incarcerated populations, trauma-informed interventions could improve post-release well-being of releasing men prisoners with trauma histories. Social support has consistently been found to have a positive impact on trauma-related outcomes in non-incarcerated populations.

Category: Reentry, Trauma, Social Support
Nonfatal Suicidal Behavior Among Women Prisoners: The Predictive Roles of Childhood Victimization, Childhood Neglect, and Childhood Positive Support

Nonfatal Suicidal Behavior Among Women Prisoners: The Predictive Roles of Childhood Victimization, Childhood Neglect, and Childhood Positive Support

Published: | Author: Stephen Tripodi, Eyitayo Onifade, Carrie Pettus-Davis

Women entering prison report high rates of childhood victimization. Women in prison also report higher rates of nonfatal suicidal behavior (self-reported suicide attempts) than women in the general population and similar rates to their male counterparts despite having significantly lower suicide rates than males in the general population. Yet, there is a dearth of research that addresses the relationship between childhood victimization and suicidality for women prisoners in the United States. 

Category: Trauma, Social Support, Mental Health, Incarcerated Women
"Let momma take 'em": portrayals of women supporting male former prisoners.

"Let momma take 'em": portrayals of women supporting male former prisoners.

Published: | Author: Anna M. Scheyett, Carrie Pettus-Davis

Women provide support for many vulnerable groups, work that is frequently discounted with gendered stereotypes. One growing vulnerable group is former prisoners who often return to women family members. We completed a qualitative study with 25 former prisoners and criminal justice staff to examine their conceptualizations of the demands placed on women supporters of former prisoners. 

Category: Reentry, Social Support, Racial and Gender BIas
Naturally occurring social support in interventions for former prisoners with substance use disorders: Conceptual framework and program model

Naturally occurring social support in interventions for former prisoners with substance use disorders: Conceptual framework and program model

Published: | Author: Carrie Pettus-Davis, Matthew Owen Howard, Amelia Roberts-Lewis, Anna M. Scheyett

Naturally-occurring social support is underutilized in interventions with former prisoners with substance use disorders. This paper proposes a conceptual framework followed by a program model to inform the development of naturally-occurring social support interventions with former prisoners with substance use disorders.

Category: Reentry, Social Support, Substance Use
The Influence of Social Bonds on Recidivism: A Study of Texas Male Prisoners.

The Influence of Social Bonds on Recidivism: A Study of Texas Male Prisoners.

Published: | Author: Stephen Tripodi

The present study examines the influence of social bonds on recidivism for a random sample of 250 male offenders released from Texas prisons since 2001. Recidivism is a continuous variable, in which the researcher measured months between release from prison and reincarceration. Based on life-course theory, the researcher hypothesized that offenders released from prison who become employed or were married would have lower hazard ratios than offenders who were not employed or married.

Category: Social Support
From the “streets” to “normal life”: Assessing the role of social support in release planning for HIV-positive and substance-involved prisoners.

From the “streets” to “normal life”: Assessing the role of social support in release planning for HIV-positive and substance-involved prisoners.

Published: | Author: Carrie Pettus-Davis, Anna M. Scheyett, Danielle Hailey, Carol Golin, David Wohl

In 2005, there were 20,888 prisoners in the U.S. prisons known to be HIV-positive, many substance-involved. The high reincarceration rate of substance-involved prisoners, coupled with the fact that substance-involved prisoners are more prone to HIV-risk behaviors in the community, necessitates attention to preventing substance use and HIV transmission risk behaviors of prisoners upon reentry to communities. We use a social support framework to explore the role of social support in HIV+ prisoners’ expectations of release and postrelease plans.

Category: Reentry, HIV/AIDS, Substance Use, Social Support