OFFENDER REINTEGRATION
LECTURE 1 = WHAT’S IN A NAME
What is offender reintegration?
- Offender reintegration = ‘Buzzword’: a lot of words refer to reintegration
o Interchangeable use of terms as:
§ ‘reintegration’ (EU)
§ ‘resocialization’ (EU)
§ ‘reentry’ (US)
§ ‘resettlement’ (UK)
§ ‘throughcare’ (UK)
§ ‘rehabilitation’
§ And sometimes even ‘recidivism’ + ‘reoffending’
- So, different concepts or words are used to refer to the same thing while there are
different connotations! à different meanings in different countries: different
meanings depending on the areas/regions where the words are used à time + place
= are important
- Different narratives or perspectives can be associated with the words! For example:
o (1) “Reintegration narrative”
§ = (ex)offender reenters society as citizen with the protentional to do
good
• Possibilities to do good and to change
o (2) “Recidivism reduction narrative”
§ = (ex)offender reenters society as citizen with the potential to do harm
• Focus on risk
• Lot of mistrust
• Expectations are more negative
o à It is also linked to theories/models: for example:
§ GLM-theory: good lives model (more linked to reintegration narrative
or perspective)
§ Labeling theory
• We label someone. Which narrative we use can have a negative
or positive impact.
o Recidivism narrative or perspective: can bring stigma
because it refers to ‘the potential to do harm’.
§ So: also shows the ‘power of language’:
• à linked to stigma: how we refer to
people represents our attitude towards
these people. This can have an effect on
their will to develop another personality
and the will to accept this identity as a
society.
- Project ‘SAMEN’ in Mechelen:
o Snel, alternatief, maatwerk, efficient en nabij
o Is a project in the city of Mechelen on a local level, cooperation between
different actors
Eggermont Lise-Marie 1
, o The goal is for example increasing the local security and the local safety. This is
thus a recidivism reduction perspective or narrative.
o However, only focusing on recidivism reduction: focus on recidivism reduction
is not a bad thing, it is related to the goal you want to achieve (e.g., local
security and safety). But: important that you create a balance: not only focusing
on reducing recidivism but also on interventions that aim (1) empowerment
and (2) human dignity.
§ So: also aiming/also goal to achieve:
• Empowerment
• Human dignity
Event and process
- Narrow and broad perspective on ‘reintegration’
o Narrow perspective reintegration
§ The moment a prisoner is released from confinement
§ Short-term and passive event
§ ‘Reentry’ and ‘release’
• à Narrow perspective refers to the reentry or release
perspective which is the physical relocating of the prisoner from
prison to society. It is more of a short-term and passive event
where the person is not really involved within the process. Often
referred to as reentry or release.
o Broad perspective reintegration
§ Starts prior to the release and continues well afterwards
§ Long-term and active process, and adds an aim
§ ‘Resettlement’ and ‘reintegration’ with rehabilitation/social inclusion
• à Not only about the physical relocation of the person from
prison to society. It starts prior to the release and continues well
afterwards. So, more of a long-term and active process where
an aim is added. Often referred to as resettlement and/or
reintegration with rehabilitation and social inclusion as aim.
Reintegration: concept keys: ongoing process – rehabilitation – reentry – reintegration –
resettlement
- Ongoing process:
o Wright and Cesar: “Offender reintegration begins when an inmate first enters
prison and continues through their eventual release back into the community”
§ Possible exam question: Reflect on this quote: what is being said, how
do you look at this quote, do you want to add something, and which
perspective?
• à When we look at the concept of ‘reintegration’, it is more of
a buzzword where a lot of different words want to refer to the
same thing but have different connotations. It is also linked with
time and place. Using specific terms need to be linked to the
goal or goals you want to achieve, where the perspective or
narrative is important. You have a more narrow and more broad
perspective on the concept/definition of ‘reintegration’. This
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, quote is linked to the broad perspective where reintegration
starts prior to the release and continues well afterwards.
Instead of a short-term and passive event, it is about a long-term
and active process where an aim is added (rehabilitation and
social inclusion). It is not only about the physical relocation of
the prisoner from prison to society (=narrow perspective), and
different stakeholders are involved. In my opinion, reintegration
needs to be seen from the broader perspective. It is important
that all stakeholders are involved including the (ex)prisoner and
to invest in aftercare. It has more advantages on the long term
for both the (ex)prisoner and the broader society (safety,
security).
o Gideon and Sung 2010: The Triple R Model of Rehabilitation, Reentry, and
Reintegration
§ Gideon and Sung (2010) developed the Triple R model, which is about
the ongoing process where the three concepts (rehabilitation, reentry,
and reintegration) underpin and fuel each other. It is about the entire
reintegration progress.
§ à Rehabilitation
• The broad definition of rehabilitation is about all kind of
interventions that strive for the same goal, namely successful
reintegration. The narrow definition of rehabilitation is often
related to the reduction recidivism perspective where
assessment and interventions/treatment based on risks and
needs are central. So, the aim of rehabilitation in the narrower
sense is about changing the person/personal attitude by
interventions and treatment.
• Rehabilitation is different from the concept of ‘desistance’
because desistance is about self-induced change, change
coming from within the person itself. Rehabilitation refers to the
efforts of penal agencies (the traditional and criminal
interventions). The person involved can take two positions:
either the person is motivated to participate, or passive
compliance.
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, • Rehabilitation is the ‘first step’, it forms the seeds for successful
reintegration. Rehabilitation can fuel reintegration;
rehabilitation is needed to reintegrate.
• There are words/concepts that are often related to
‘rehabilitation’, which are:
o 1 = Resocialization
§ Is more about something you strive for
o 2 = Reclassification
§ Refers to the interventions needed to realize
resocialization
o 3 = Correctional rehabilitation
§ Interventions based on crime prevention and risk
reduction
o 4= Reform
§ Broader than rehabilitation. Rehabilitation is
about changing the person/personal attitude by
interventions and treatment based on risk and
needs
§ Reform also includes other interventions such as
jobs and education
§ à Reentry
• Similar to the narrow perspective of reintegration
(reentry/release)
• It is about the physical relocation of the prisoner into society,
and it does not refer to specific intervention strategies or
programs
• The physical dimension of the concept of reentry is universal, it
is the same for everyone. However, the social and psychological
demands are individual, can differ for individuals
§ à Reintegration
• Reintegration starts after the physical relocation (reentry). It is
the continuation of the rehabilitation process and underpins the
reentry process (functional dimension)
• Reintegration is about connecting with society and social
networks (social dimension)
• Reintegration as a symbolic meaning; the symbolic element of
reintegration = “moral inclusion” à Moral inclusion after
physical relocation (reentry)
o = The person is accepted (again) by society and is seen
as a citizen with equal values and norms
• This is not an easy process and is often referred to as a process
of ‘making good’: finding a balance between working on
rehabilitation – reentry – reintegration and doing something in
return/doing things to make up for what the person has done.
• There is the need for: support + supervision
§ à + Resettlement
Eggermont Lise-Marie 4
