Is social support the cure for recidivism?

It is well known that over 50% of released prisoners are reincarcerated within three years of their release (Pettus-Davis et al., 2017). However, evidence from numerous studies support the claims that social support from loved ones post-incarceration significantly reduces the likelihood of reincarceration. Social connections are powerful.

Over 13 million people cycle in and out of incarceration in the United States each year, and those who rely on friends and families for support are less likely to return, according to research. Unfortunately, “most people are not getting the type of support they need after prison” (Pettus-Davis et al., 2017).

Social connections

Social connection is the experience of feeling close and connected to others. It involves feeling loved, cared for, and valued.  It also involves the exchange of resources that individuals perceive to be available or that are actually available.

Often, released prisoners rely on loved ones after incarceration to provide housing, food, transportation, money, and employment assistance. 

Research consistently shows that positive social support “leads to improved mental health, physical health, and behavioral outcomes and reduces risk for incarceration” (Pettus-Davis et al., 2017). Social support increases resilience, transformation, and overall wellbeing.

Social connection is the experience of feeling close and connected to others. It involves feeling loved, cared for, and valued.

Declining social support

But while social support is critical for post-release success, such support declines over time in many cases.

There are any number of reasons why social support might be unavailable or might decline over time, such as frustration and resentment towards former prisoners from loved ones, loved ones pushing too hard for too much change too soon, or loved ones being overprotective such that ex-prisoners seek respite from former negatively-influencing friends (Pettus-Davis et al., 2017). 

Social support intervention for formerly incarcerated individuals

Researchers Pettus-Davis and colleagues (2017) evaluated an intervention called Support Matters to address the problem of declining social support by promoting involvement in positive social support networks. They sought to optimize interventions that enhance positive social support of former prisoners, specifically those individuals with substance abuse disorders. 

A total of 57 individuals from North Carolina men’s prisons participated with their self-identified positive social support partner in 10 weeks of group-based cognitive and relational skills training. Group sessions began approximately 3 weeks prior to their release from prison and continued post-release. 

The five modules in the Support Matters program are designed around cognitive-behavioral concepts such as how to ask for support, developing a structured routine, awareness of environmental triggers, decision-making skills, goal-setting, problem solving, coping with stress, and developing pro-social relationships. 

The project was designed to enhance positive social support from loved ones. It was hoped that Support Matters participants would have increased levels of social support post-release, decreased levels of criminal thinking, decreased substance use, and result in fewer arrests in the community.

Positive results not found

Surprisingly, participants reported declines in supportive behaviors and perceived quality of support over the post-incarceration period. Also, there were no significant reductions in negative orientation or criminal thinking and no significant decrease in substance use among participants. Participants did, however, express their satisfaction with the program.

Support partners in the study reported that the program helped them to (a) better understand former prisoners’ prison and reentry experiences, (b) increase their empathy and desire to try new strategies, and (c) better differentiate their own enabling versus supportive behaviors. However, support partners reported not feeling prepared to adequately support their former prisoner loved one.

Given that results did not entirely favor the Support Matters program (perhaps due to the small sample size), the researchers suggested several changes to the curriculum that might have made a difference in the outcomes.  Such changes might include differentiating the curriculum for age differences and different support roles, or targeting criminal thinking directly (rather than addressing only prosocial cognitions for the purposes of engaging in positively supportive relationships). Criminal thinking curriculum material was not a key ingredient of the intervention. 

The researchers also believe that perhaps testing the intervention with a larger sample size would produce different results. 

They concluded that:

“This study suggests practice and research implications that can help the field to move forward in understanding how to best intervene on social support networks. Whether social support is important is not questioned, but how it can be most effectively intervened upon given the complexity of relational dynamics remains a question” (Petus-Davis et al., 2017).

If you are a nonprofit leader faced with evaluating your program’s effectiveness, we hope this brief report has been helpful. If you’d like help with the process of planning and implementing a full-scale impact evaluation, consider the experts at LaBarbera Learning Solutions. We’re an experienced team of researchers, evaluators, and educators with the expertise needed to demonstrate your program’s impact to stakeholders. See our cost-effective solutions at www.labarberalearning.com.

Reference

Pettus-Davis, C., Duningan, A., Veeh, C. A., Howard, M. O., Scheyett, A. M., & Roberts-Lewis, A. (2017). Enhancing social support postincarceration: Results from a pilot randomized controlled trial. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 73(10), 1226-1246.