She advocates that this trend must be reversed and that the majority of society's efforts should be expanded on preparing inmates for their eventual release.
Petersilia does not broach the issue of prisoner reentry into society without providing a long and detailed explanation of the problem. In the first portion of her book she provides one of the most detailed histories of the development of the America prison system available. She details how American prisons evolved from being purely punitive in nature to becoming largely rehabilitative in purpose and then turning back again in the direction of being punitive as law and order became a major political issue in the 1970s and 80s.
In an interesting twist, Petersalia argues strongly that one of the major reasons for the present problems in the American prison system is the heavy reliance on determinate sentencing systems. She argues that the determinate system has removed the incentives for prisoners to improve themselves. Shorter sentences have become the rule and prisoners now known they are going to be released and they no longer have to prove themselves before a parole board. The discretion has been removed and so has the need to demonstrate self-improvement. Petersalia suggests that the old indeterminate system of sentencing needs to be re-evaluated and, possibly, reinitiated along with the increased use of parole boards.
In Petersailia's view the biggest problem facing released prisoners and the major reason why so many eventually return to the prison population are the barriers that society places in the way of prisoners upon their release. Petersalia spends a great deal of time explaining how these barriers are set up and the profound effect that these barriers have on the released prisoner's psychic. Released prisoners are essentially barred from most employment and cannot establish housing. The net result is that they are prevented from succeeding in their quest to become productive members of society. Society, in the guise of protecting public safety, treats ex-prisoners as pariahs...
The barriers are erected and contribute to what has become the "churning" of America's prisoner population.
The book also highlights how the present prisoner reentry program downplays the importance of the victim. Again, Petersalia argues that determinate sentencing has played an important, if nonetheless chilling, part in regards to victim's rights and that this effect should be considered in reviewing the possibility of returning to indeterminate sentencing.
The strength of this book is its historical evaluation of the American prison system and how changes in public policy have affected how the prison system operates. In analyzing how changes in public policy have affected the nation's prisons and how they have subsequently affected other issues such prisoner reentry, Petersalia has served an important public service. She has opened the eyes of the public toward the problems inherent in the present system and provided correctional officials and politicians issues to consider in order to reform the existing system. Petersalia warns, however, that merely looking at the problems inherent in prisoner reentry will not remedy the situation. This has been attempted before with some minimal, but short lived, changes. The only solution is a radical change in public policy and this can only be accomplished through a radical transformation in public attitudes toward prisoners and the prison system. Petersalia argues that these attitudinal changes are slow to develop but essential if any long-term solutions are to be successful. Petersalia's book is a first step and, as Petersalia is the first to admit, only a minor step in what is a major undertaking. The American prison system is in a crisis situation but books like Petersalia's provide a vital service in the effort to address the crisis.
Reference
Petersailia, J. (2009). When Prisoners Come Home: Parole and Prisoner Reentry and Reintegration. New York: Oxford University Press.
When Prisoners come Home
