Positive Family Social Support: Counteracting Negative Effects of Mental Illness and Substance Abuse to Reduce Jail Ex-inmate Recidivism Rates

Abstract

The incarceration and recidivism rates in United States jails are marked by high mental health and substance use problems and racial disparity. Nearly 9 million people cycle through approximately 3,500 jails. For this longitudinal study to identify factors predicting recidivism, data came from a study of Allegheny County Jail inmates (N = 301) that concluded in 2008. Eligible participants were adult men, enrolled in jail collaborative services at recruitment, and were 30 days from release. Examinations were based on multinomial logistic regression methods; positive family social support was found to reduce the effect of factors known to predict higher recidivism rates: substance abuse, Black race, and younger age. Negative perceptions of the helpfulness and support of community-based services were counteracted by positive family social support. Policy and practice implications are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Social support
• jail ex-inmates
• offender reentry
• community-based services
• mental health
• substance use

Notes

The authors thank the Allegheny County Jail Collaborative and the Human Service Integration Fund (represented by more than a dozen major philanthropic foundations of the Greater Pittsburgh region) for supporting this study. The astute and facilitating national advisory committee members included Alfred Blumstein and Jonathan Caulkins of Carnegie-Mellon University; Martin Horn of the New York Departments of Correction and Probation; Stephen Ingley, a former president of the American Jail Association; Nancy La Vigne, a senior researcher, Urban Institute, Washington DC; and Calvin Lightfoot, who is a former warden of the Allegheny County Jail and initiated the Allegheny County Jail Collaborative.

The dataset for the original study has been used to produce other peer-reviewed journal articles by these authors.

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