Unwinding mass incarceration

Unwinding mass incarceration will neither be cheap nor easy, and to be done responsibly will require a new infrastructure of coordinated community-based facilities and services that can meet evidence-based incarceration needs while also ensuring public safety. It is not easy for former inmates to disentangle themselves from the system or to extricate themselves from the relationships that the system will be monitoring. Many of them resume relationships with individuals in communities with high crime rates whose actions attract police attention. Even for those with the resolve to change behavior, past relationships can haunt them well into the future. Some correctional systems have responded to this research by offering cognitive behavioral programming. Through a dissection of past decisions and role-playing scenarios involving criminal activity, participants learn how to slow down impulsive tendencies and to develop more reflective thinking processes. The community correctional residential facilities aim to help soon-to-be released inmates find and secure private-sector employment, reengage with their families, and develop individualized reentry plans that address treatment, housing, finances, and other areas of need. They also require the inmates to pay program fees, taxes, restitution, and child support orders. Moving individuals from incarceration to community liberty without proper support and accountability can jeopardize not only the entire reform agenda, but also individuals and communities that are already fragile.