The repercussions of incarceration, especially for residents of Black and Brown communities, extend far beyond prison walls, ensnaring individuals in a cycle of retribution that often leads them back into prison. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, “about 66% of prisoners released across 24 states in 2008 were arrested within 3 years, and 82% were arrested within 10 years.” The pervasive issues of housing instability, unemployment, poverty, and recidivism among formerly incarcerated individuals, along with the challenges of reintegrating back into the community, highlight a critical need for effective intervention strategies.
A growing body of research finds highly positive impacts through peer mentoring and restorative, community-building programs, but there is insufficient research on this work. Key questions include how and why it is effective.
With this project, WPF is partnering with the Transformational Prison Project (TPP) to explore these questions. TPP’s work is rooted in restorative justice (RJ) as “a philosophy, a set of practices and a nonviolent social movement. Rather than focusing on punishment, it seeks to repair harm.” TPP was created in 2013 within MCI-Norfolk, the largest prison in Massachusetts, home to the nation’s oldest cohort of men serving life terms. TPP is dedicated to comprehending both personal and systemic harm, with a particular focus on the impact within communities of color. Today, the organization works both inside detention facilities and with people who are recently released from prisons, as they rebuild their lives. The project’s key TPP staff include Nobel Williams and Zoe Young.
This project focuses on adults in TPP’s re-entry programs and seeks to:
- Explore effective strategies and tactics for implementing a restorative justice approach to support reentry;
- Identify the potential challenges and limitations associated with the restorative justice approach in reentry; and
- Develop recommendations for improvement in this integration process.
The project employs a mixed-methods approach, including TPP’s pre-existing survey data, qualitative interviews, and a literature review of research on restorative justice and reentry.
