WITHDRAWN: Navigating the Carceral State with a Criminal Background

Background and Purpose

Current policies and services impacting people with criminal backgrounds are primarily informed by an objective view of the reentry population that emphasizes the criminal components of their histories rather than social and psychological factors that promote long-term reintegration. Few studies have focused on the actual experience of this oppressed population, creating a deficit in our understanding of what they need and want and how they experience reentry. The purpose of this study was to discover the actual life experience of folks who carry the burden of a criminal background and periodic homelessness as they navigate their social worlds. It was developed as a part of a pilot project conducted by an activist organization in Chicago aimed at achieving access to public housing for forty individuals with criminal backgrounds who had experienced homelessness. The study produced qualitative findings about the experience of the participants as they gained access to housing and were followed for one year.

Method

Principles of a participatory action paradigm guided development of the pilot project and the research. The aim was to explore and elucidate the lived experience of people living with a criminal background, in order to inform reformative changes in practices and policies related to them. Individuals with homelessness and criminal conviction were involved in developing and implementing the pilot design and the research questions, and in vetting the findings. A convenience sample of 27 participants were recruited and were followed for one year. An open-ended interview script guided data collection to ensure focus on the lived experience of participants as they adapted to achieving stable housing. Data analysis utilized Grounded Theory and naturalistic inquiry principles to develop a thematic description of their experience.

Results

Themes that emerged included extreme and ongoing challenges facing the participants, and essentials of successful navigation of their lives in a carceral state. Current challenges included injustice awareness, isolation, the weight of the past including family and community histories, incarceration, overwhelming reentry from prison, and episodic homelessness. Essentials for successful navigation of the carceral state included recognition of personal change and a realization of their own goodness, maintaining a constant hyper-vigilance, staying strong and focused, having individualistic initiative and a strong work ethic, maintaining a religious or spiritual sense of hope, having stable housing and support to keep them going, and helping others.

Conclusion and Implications

The findings suggest that while folks with criminal backgrounds do need stable housing, job training and employment opportunities, effective use of such programs and resources requires relational support, spiritual validation, opportunities, and ongoing recognition of their internal goodness. These elements of experience need to be built into and centralized in services and policies aimed at helping them. Also, future research that explores the experience of those who have not been as fortunate as the pilot participants will further inform service and policy advocates about the needs and desires of people experiencing navigating the Sisyphean burdens of navigating successfully in a carceral world.