No Family,No Friends: An Instrumental Variable Analysis to Revisit the Reintegration Model in Mexico

Abstract

Literature on recidivism and desistance has acquired increasing relevance in the criminological discussions of recent years. This study seeks to contribute to this discourse by implementing an instrumental variable analysis to examine inmates’ expectations regarding the factors that play a central role in their perceptions of factors for successful social reintegration. Results indicate that education is perceived as a key factor, while the support of family and friends exerts a limited influence over incarcerated persons’ perceptions of social reintegration possibilities in Mexico. These results serve as a basis for discussing barriers to social reintegration and for exploring public policy modifications in Latin America.

Keywords

social reintegration recidivism education familial social support instrumental variable analysis

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Adams

Fischer

(1976). The effects of prison residents’ community contacts on recidivism rates. Corrective & Social Psychiatry & Journal of Behavior Technology, Methods & Therapy, 22(4), 21–27.

Agnew

(2005). Why do criminals offend?: A general theory of crime and delinquency. Roxbury.

Ahumada

Grandón

(2015). Significados de la reinserción social en funcionarios de un centro de cumplimiento penitenciario. Psicoperspectivas, 14(2), 84–95. https://doi.org/10.5027/psicoperspectivas-Vol14-Issue2-fulltext-536

Andersen

T. S.

Scott

D. A. I.

Boehme

H. M.

King

Mikell

(2020). What matters to formerly incarcerated men? Looking beyond recidivism as a measure of successful reintegration. The Prison Journal, 100(4), 488–509. https://doi.org/10.1177/0032885520939295

Apel

Blokland

A. A.

Nieuwbeerta

van Schellen

(2010). The impact of imprisonment on marriage and divorce: A risk setting approach. Journal of Qualitative Criminology, 26(1), 269–300. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10940-009-9087-5

Bahr

Harris

Fisher

Armstrong

(2010). Successful reentry: What differentiates successful and unsuccessful parolees? International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 54(5), 667–692. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X09342435

Bergman

Fondevila

(2021). Prisons and crime in Latin America. Cambridge University Press.

Bouffard

J. A.

Bergeron

L. E.

(2006). Reentry works: The implementation and effectiveness of a serious and violent offender reentry initiative. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 44(2-3), 1–29. https://doi.org/10.1300/J076v44n02_01

Braman

(2003). Families and incarceration. In Mauer

Chesney-Lind

(Eds.), Invisible punishment: The collateral consequences of mass imprisonment (pp. 117–135). Norton.

10.

Brock

(2017). Reducing recidivism through education. Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women's and Gender Studies, 17(1), 33–38. https://digitalcommons.cortland.edu/wagadu/vol17/iss1/4

11.

Brooks Holliday

Heilbrun

Fretz

(2012). Examining improvements in criminogenic needs: The risk reduction potential of a structured re-entry program. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 30(4), 431–447. https://doi.org/10.1002/bsl.2016

12.

Burnett

Maruna

(2006). The kindness of prisoners: Strengths-based resettlement in theory and in action. Criminology & Criminal Justice, 6(1), 83–106. https://doi.org/10.1177/1748895806060668

13.

Byrne

C. F.

Trew

K. J.

(2008). Pathways through crime: The development of crime and desistance in the accounts of men and women offenders. The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, 47(3), 238–258. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2311.2008.00520.x

14.

Cobbina

J. E.

(2010). Reintegration success and failure: Factors impacting reintegration among incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 49(3), 210–232. https://doi.org/10.1080/10509671003666602

15.

Cole

G. F.

Smith

C. E.

DeJong

(2018). The American system of criminal justice. Cengage Learning.

16.

Córdova Sánchez

C. A.

(2016). Política de reinserción social en México: La cárcel y su potencial para la reincorporación de los delincuentes a la sociedad. Revista legislativa de estudios sociales y de opinión pública, 9(18), 105–141. https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=5814200

17.

Cullen

F. T.

(1994). Social support as an organizing concept for criminology: Presidential address to the academy of criminal justice sciences. Justice Quarterly, 11(4), 527–560. https://doi.org/10.1080/07418829400092421

18.

Cunjama

Cisneros

Ordaz

(2012). Prisión, reinserción social y criminalidad. Reflexiones sobre la situación carcelaria y la violencia social en México. Editorial Académica Española.

19.

Cunningham

(2021). Causal Inference. Yale University Press.

20.

Davis

Bahr

S. J.

Ward

(2013). The process of offender reintegration: Perceptions of what helps prisoners reenter society. Criminology & Criminal Justice, 13(4), 446–469. https://doi.org/10.1177/1748895812454748

21.

Denney

A. S.

Tewksbury

Jones

R. S.

(2014). Beyond basic needs: Social support and structure for successful offender reentry. Journal of Qualitative Criminal Justice and Criminology, 2(1), 39–67. https://doi.org/10.21428/88de04a1.d95029f6

22.

Doherty

Forrester

Brazil

Matheson

F. I.

(2014). Finding their way: Conditions for successful reintegration among women offenders. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 53(7), 562–586. https://doi.org/10.1080/10509674.2014.944740

23.

Enache

Pasca

Luta

Ciopec

Ursachi

Radu

Mutiu

(2009). Aspects regarding the hope for successful reintegration of female detainees. Legal Medicine, 11(1), S382–S385. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.legalmed.2009.02.033

24.

Farrell

(2000). Women, crime, and drugs: Testing the effect of therapeutic communities. Women and Criminal Justice, 11(1), 21–48. https://doi.org/10.1300/J012v11n01_02

25.

Folk

J. B.

Mashek

Tangney

Stuewig

Moore

K. E.

(2016). Connectedness to the criminal community and the community at large predicts 1-year post-release outcomes among felony offenders. European Journal of Social Psychology, 46(3), 341–355. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2155

26.

García Ramírez

(2008). Reseña legislativa sobre la reforma constitucional de 2007-2008 en materia de seguridad pública y justicia penal. Boletín mexicano de derecho comparado, 41(123), 1557–1581. https://www.scielo.org.mx/scielo.php?pid=S0041-86332008000300013&script=sci_arttext

27.

Gordon

(1999). Are conjugal and familial visitations effective rehabilitative concepts? Yes. The Prison Journal, 79(1), 119–124. https://doi.org/10.1177/0032885599079001012

28.

Greene

W. H.

(2018). Econometric Analysis. Pearson.

29.

Grounds

Jamieson

(2003). No sense of an ending: Researching the experience of imprisonment and release among Republican ex-prisoners. Theoretical Criminology, 7(3), 347–362. https://doi.org/10.1177/13624806030073005

30.

Haney

(2006). Reforming Punishment: Psychological Limits to the Pains of Imprisonment. American Psychological Association.

31.

Hannem

(2019). Deconstructing stigma in discourse on families affected by incarceration. Criminologie, 52(1), 225–245. https://doi.org/10.7202/1059547ar

32.

Hanson

R. K.

Scott

(1996). The social networks of sexual offenders. Psychology, Crime and Law, 2(1), 249–258. https://doi.org/10.1080/10683169608409782

33.

Harm

N. J.

Phillips

S. D.

(2001). You can't go home again: Women and criminal recidivism. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 32(3), 3–21. https://doi.org/10.1300/J076v32n03_02

34.

Hass

A. Y.

Saxon

C. E.

(2012). From the inside/out: Greene county jail inmates on restorative reentry. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 56(7), 1037–1062. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X11418914

35.

Healy

O'Donnell

(2008). Calling time on crime: Motivation, generativity and agency in Irish probationers. Probation Journal, 55(1), 25–38. https://doi.org/10.1177/0264550507085676

36.

Hedderman

Gunby

Shelton

(2011). What women want: The importance of qualitative approaches in evaluating work with women offenders. Criminology & Criminal Justice, 11(1), 3–19. https://doi.org/10.1177/1748895810392188

37.

Hlavka

Wheelock

Jones

(2015). Ex-offender accounts of successful reentry from prison. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 54(6), 406–428. https://doi.org/10.1080/10509674.2015.1057630

38.

Hoffman

H. C.

Byrd

A. M.

Kightlinger

A. M.

(2010). Prison programs and services for incarcerated parents and their underage children: Results from a national survey of correctional facilities. The Prison Journal, 90(4), 397–416. https://doi.org/10.1177/0032885510382087

39.

Homer

E. L.

(1979). Inmate-family ties: Desirable but difficult. Federal Probation, 43(1), 47–52.

40.

Hubert

Bravo

(2018). Reinserción social y servicios postpenales: Más allá del cambio de vocabulario, en Sistema de Justicia de Ejecución Penal, reinserción social y derechos humanos. RevistaDfensor, 16(12), 18–23.

41.

Jiang

Fisher-Giorlando

(2005). Social support and inmate rule violations: A multilevel analysis. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 30(1), 71–86. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02885882

42.

Jiang

Winfree

L. T.

(2006). Social support, gender, and inmate adjustment to prison life: Insights from a national sample. The Prison Journal, 86(1), 32–55. https://doi.org/10.1177/0032885505283876

43.

Jorgensen

J. D.

Hernandez

S. H.

Warren

R. C.

(1986). Addressing the social needs of families of prisoners: A tool for inmate rehabilitation. Federal Probation, 50(1), 47.

44.

Kay

(2022). Rethinking social capital in the desistance process: The ‘Artful Dodger’complex. European Journal of Criminology, 19(5), 1243–1259. https://doi.org/10.1177/1477370820960615

45.

Kazura

(2001). Family programming for incarcerated parents: A needs assessment among inmates. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 32(4), 67–83. https://doi.org/10.1300/J076v32n04_05

46.

Klein

S. R.

Bartholomew

G. S.

Hibbert

(2002). Inmate family functioning. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 46(1), 95–111. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X02461007

47.

Laub

Sampson

(2006). Shared beginnings, divergent lives: Delinquent boys to age 70. Harvard UniversityPress.

48.

Leal

García

(2007). Programa de reinserción social como mecanismo rehabilitador de la pena. Un estudio de la región Centro Occidental Zuliana. Capítulo Criminológico, 35(3), 351–374. https://www.pensamientopenal.com.ar/system/files/2015/08/doctrina41835.pdf

49.

LeBel

T. P.

Richie

Maruna

(2017). Can released prisoners “make it”? examining formerly incarcerated persons’ belief in upward mobility and the “American dream.”. In Stojkovic

(Ed.), Prisoner reentry: Critical issues and policy directions (pp. 245–305). Springer.

50.

Listwan

S. J.

Sullivan

C. J.

Agnew

Cullen

F. T.

Colvin

(2013). The pains of imprisonment revisited: The impact of strain on inmate recidivism. Justice Quarterly, 30(1), 144–168. https://doi.org/10.1080/07418825.2011.597772

51.

Lopoo

L. M.

Western

(2005). Incarceration and the formation and stability of marital unions. Journal of Marriage and Family, 67(3), 721–734. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2005.00165.x

52.

MacKenzie

D. L.

(2000). Evidence-based corrections: Identifying what works. Crime & Delinquency, 46(4), 457–471. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128700046004003

53.

Maruna

(2001). Making good: How ex-convicts reform and rebuild their lives. American Psychological Association.

54.

Maruna

(2004). Desistance from crime and explanatory style: A new direction in the psychology of reform. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 20, 184–200. https://doi.org/10.1177/1043986204263778

55.

Mathlin

Freestone

Jones

(2022). Factors associated with successful reintegration for male offenders: A systematic narrative review with implicit causal model. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 20(1), 1–40. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-022-09547-5

56.

McLewin

L. A.

Muller

R. T.

(2006). Attachment and social support in the prediction of psychopathology among young adults with and without a history of physical maltreatment. Child Abuse and Neglect, 30(2), 171–191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2005.10.004

57.

Miller

K. M.

(2006). The impact of parental incarceration on children: An emerging need for effective interventions. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 23(1), 472–486. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-006-0065-6

58.

Morales

Luengo

MÁ

da Agra

(2013). Efectividad de las medidas socioeducativas impuestas por la Administración de Justicia Juvenil en la reintegración social de adolescentes infractores: Una revisión crítica. International Annals of Criminology, 51(1-2), 133–155. https://doi.org/10.1017/S000344520000009X

59.

Morani

N. M.

Wikoff

Linhorst

D. M.

Bratton

(2011). A description of the self-identified needs, service expenditures, and social outcomes of participants of a prisoner-reentry program. The Prison Journal, 91(3), 347–365. https://doi.org/10.1177/0032885511409896

60.

Morizot

Le Blanc

(2007). Behavioral, self, and social control predictors of desistance from crime: A test of launch and contemporaneous effect models. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 23(1), 50–71. https://doi.org/10.1177/1043986206298945

61.

Mowen

T. J.

Stansfield

Boman IV

J. H.

(2019). Family matters: Moving beyond “if” family support matters to “why” family support matters during reentry from prison. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 56(4), 483–523. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022427818820902

62.

Navarro

Espinoza

Ferrada

Valenzuela

(2012). Informe final de evaluación Programas de Rehabilitación y Reinserción Social. Ministerio de Justicia.

63.

O'Connor

T. P.

Perreyclear

(2013). Prison religion in action and its influence on offender rehabilitation. In Religion, the community, and the rehabilitation of criminal offenders (pp. 11–33). Routledge.

64.

Padilla

G. A. H.

Hernández

E. A. R.

Solis

M. V.

(2023). La drogadicción, obstáculo para la consolidación de la reinserción social y la protección del derecho humano a la salud de las personas privadas de su libertad. Una responsabilidad del Estado inatendida. Caso México. Cimexus, 18(1), 129–146. https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=8973176

65.

Pierce

M. B.

(2015). Male inmate perceptions of the visitation experience: Suggestions on how prisons can promote inmate–family relationships. The Prison Journal, 95(3), 370–396. https://doi.org/10.1177/0032885515587471

66.

Pokropek

(2016). Introduction to instrumental variables and their application to large-scale assessment data. Large-scale Assessments in Education, 4(4), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40536-016-0018-2

67.

Portuguez

R. S.

Arriagada

D. P.

(2018). La evaluación de impacto en políticas públicas: Reflexiones a partir de un caso de evaluación de un programa de reinserción social en Chile. Estado, gobierno, gestión pública: Revista Chilena de Administración Pública, 32(1), 11–39. https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=7134620

68.

Quan-Baffour

K. P.

Zawada

B. E.

(2012). Education programmes for prison inmates: Reward for offences or hope for a better life? Journal of Sociology and Social Anthropology, 3(2), 73–81. https://doi.org/10.1080/09766634.2012.11885567

69.

Rebellon

C. J.

Straus

M. A.

Medeiros

(2008). Self-control in global perspective: An empirical assessment of Gottfredson and Hirschi's general theory within and across 32 national settings. European Journal of Criminology, 5(3), 331–361. https://doi.org/10.1177/1477370808090836

70.

Reisig

M. D.

Holtfreter

Morash

(2002). Social capital among women offenders: Examining the distribution of social networks and resources. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 18(2), 167–187. https://doi.org/10.1177/1043986202018002004

71.

Rhine

E. E.

Paparozzi

(1999). Reinventing probation and parole: A matter of consequence. Corrections Management Quarterly, 3(2), 47–52.

72.

Richmond

K. M.

(2014). Why work while incarcerated? Inmate perceptions on prison industries employment. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 53(4), 231–252. https://doi.org/10.1080/10509674.2014.902005

73.

Ricordeau

(2008). Les détenus et leursproches. Solidarités et sentiments à l’ombre des murs. Autrement.

74.

Sanhueza

(2019). Algunos desafíos de los “programas basados en la fe” para la reinserción social en Chile. Cultura y religión, 13(1), 104–124. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-47272019000100104

75.

Sanhueza

Pérez

(2019). Explorando el “desempeño moral” en cárceles chilenas y su potencial en la reinserción. Revista mexicana de ciencias políticas y sociales, 64(236), 83–110. https://doi.org/10.22201/fcpys.2448492xe.2019.236.63108

76.

Seiter

R. P.

Kadela

K. R.

(2003). Prisoner reentry: What works, what does not, and what is promising. Crime & Delinquency, 49(3), 360–388. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128703049003002

77.

Shapland

Bottoms

(2011). Reflections on social values, offending and desistance among young adult recidivists. Punishment & Society, 13(3), 256–282. https://doi.org/10.1177/1462474511404334

78.

Shinkfield

Graffam

(2009). Community reintegration of ex-prisoners: Type and degree of change in variables influencing successful reintegration. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 53(1), 29–42. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X07309757

79.

Steen

Opsal

(2007). Punishment on the installment plan” individual-level predictors of parole revocation in four states. The Prison Journal, 87(3), 344–366. https://doi.org/10.1177/0032885507304526

80.

Travis

Solomon

A. L.

Waul

(2001). From prison to home: The dimensions and consequences of prisoner reentry. The Urban Institute.

81.

Turner

Petersilia

(1996). Work release in Washington: Effects on recidivism and corrections costs. The Prison Journal, 76(2), 138–164. https://doi.org/10.1177/0032855596076002003

82.

Uggen

(2000). Work as a turning point in the life course of criminals: A duration model of age, employment, and recidivism. American Sociological Review, 65(4), 529–546. https://doi.org/10.1177/000312240006500403

83.

Uggen

Staff

(2001). Work as a turning point for criminal offenders. Corrections Management Quarterly, 5(4), 1–16.

84.

Valera

Chang

Hernández

Cooper

(2015). Exploring kinship and social support in women with criminal justice backgrounds. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 54(4), 278–295. https://doi.org/10.1080/10509674.2015.1025178

85.

Vargas

A. R. J.

(2021). Programa de reinserción social para fortalecer el modelo de gestión penitenciaria en las personas privadas de libertad en la ciudad de Guayaquil, Ecuador 2020. Ciencia Latina Revista Científica Multidisciplinar, 5(5), 7493–7513. https://doi.org/10.37811/cl_rcm.v5i5.861

86.

Visher

Palmer

Roman

C. G.

(2007). Cleveland stakeholders’ perceptions of prisoner reentry. Urban Institute.

87.

Visher

C. A.

Travis

(2003). Transitions from prison to community: Understanding individual pathways. Annual Review of Sociology, 29(1), 89–113. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.29.010202.095931

88.

Visher

Yahner

La Vigne

N. G.

(2010). Life after prison: Tracking the experiences of male prisoners returning to Chicago, Cleveland, and Houston. Urban Institute.

89.

Wakefield

Uggen

(2010). Incarceration and stratification. Annual Review of Sociology, 36(1), 387–406. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.012809.102551

90.

Walker

Bowen

Brown

(2013). Psychological and criminological factors associated with desistance from violence: A review of the literature. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 18(2), 286–299. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2012.11.021

91.

Westervelt

S. D.

Cook

K. J.

(2012). Life after death row: Exonerees’ search for community and identity. Rutgers University Press.

92.

Wildeman

(2014). Parental incarceration, child homelessness, and the invisible consequences of mass imprisonment. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 651(1), 74–96. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716213502921

93.

Wright

(2017). Narratives of punishment and frustrated desistance in the lives of repeatedly criminalised women. In Hart

van Ginneken

(Eds.), New perspectives on desistance (pp. 11–35). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95185-7_2