When Prisoners Come Home

Joan Petersilia is Professor of Criminology, Law and Society at the University of California, Irvine. The author of numerous books and a former president of the American Society of Criminology, she is a consultant to the United States Department of Justice and to many state and local agencies.

"In When Prisoners Come Home, Petersilia exposes her investigative and policy background to good effect....Petersilia's arguments--plainly stated and soundly grounded in the empirical evidence on program failures and successes--provide an aggressive agenda for practices that could meaningfully change the way criminal justice is implemented in the United States."--Community Corrections Report"When Prisoners Come Home sets the stage for reinventing the offender pre-release planning and discharge process. Dr. Petersilia's insight is nothing less than inspiring." --Reginald Wilkinson, Former President, American Correctional Association"Joan Petersilia has brilliantly mapped the terrain of prisoner reentry, mixing forgotten wisdom, new data and fresh insights into a compelling call for new approaches to the reintegration of returning prisoners."--Jeremy Travis, Senior Fellow, The Urban Institute"Nationally recognized criminology scholar Petersilia has provided a benchmark text portraying the pressing societal and criminal justice policy crisis of a record number of prisoners returning to communities.... A must-read for every American."--CHOICE"Prisoner reentry has emerged as the most important new issue in justice policy. When Prisoners Come Home is the best, most comprehensive source of material on reentry that exists anywhere."--Todd R. Clear, Professor, John Jay College of Criminal Justice"When Prisoners Come Home is scholarship at its highest practical level. With about 600,000 prisoners being released each year, governments are planning massive and expensive efforts to deal with the avalanche. Dr. Petersilia's book is a necessary ally in that formidable task. To add to its attraction, it is crisply and clearly written - scholarship infused by practical experience and presented without pretension. For many decades it will dominate theliterature on parole and the conditions of prisoners returning to society."--the late Norval Morris, Julius Kreeger Professor of Law & Criminology, Emeritus, University of Chicago"Over 95 percent of our state and federal prison inmates will be released, most only a few years after they began their incarceration. Joan Petersilia's lucid book gives us the best scientific guidance on how to maximize, cost-effectively, the prospects that after they get out, they will finally become law abiding."--Daniel Glaser, Professor Emeritus, University of Southern California, Past President, American Society of Criminology"A lucid, comprehensive and scholarly accounting of reentry. This publication will serve as the premier text on reentry for many years to come. Petersilia's book presents a striking and rigorous synthesis of what is known (and not known) in the reentry literature. Her bibliography offers an encyclopedic review of the literature."--Chief Edward E. Rhine, Office of Offender Reentry and Correctional Best Practices, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction"This book alarmed me with the horrifying statisticsELI am recommending this book to other prisoners...Although Professor Petersillia wrote the book for academic, prisoners should read her work as well in order to grasp the importance of preparing for release."--Michael Santos, Prison News Blog

• Preface ; 1. Introduction and Overview ; 2. Who's Coming Home? A Profile of Returning Prisoners ; 3. The Origins and Evolution of Modern Parole ; 4. The Changing Nature of Parole Supervision and Services ; 5. How We Help: Preparing Inmates for Release ; 6. How We Hinder: Legal and Practical Barriers to Reintegration ; 7. Revolving Door Justice: Inmate Release and Recidivism ; 8. The Victim's Role in Prisoner Reentry ; 9. What to Do? Reforming Parole and Reentry Practices ; 10. Conclusions: When Punitive Policies Backfire ; Afterword