Re-imagining Support Needs For Successful Re-entry Into Our Communities

Individuals released from correctional facilities receive limited assistance and resources, negatively impacting their re-entry into communities. This paper addresses the support needed by formerly incarcerated individuals to successfully re-enter their communities. Grounded in the literature that discusses the stigma associated with incarceration, this paper explores the social support needs identified by formerly incarcerated individuals on an online support site, Prison Talk Online (prisontalk.com). The paper offers ways in which communities and the criminal justice system can work collaboratively to provide the types of support that will help reduce the likelihood that the formerly incarcerated will return to prison.