The Role of Prison-Based Money Management Training in Addressing Despair Among Incarcerated Individuals

Introduction: The United States has the world’s largest prison population, with more than 1.5 million prisoners per data from 2022. This population faces significant mental and behavioral challenges including substance use disorders and mental health challenges while in incarceration and during post-release. It is estimated that about 44% of people in jail and about 37% of those in prison have some mental illness. Hence, many researchers are exploring the potential of prison-based interventions to improve behavioral and mental health outcomes among incarcerated persons who seek to reintegrate into their communities. Thus far, these prison-based interventions have shown promise for improving behavioral and mental health outcomes. However, these programs do not directly address financial concerns that are often key drivers of despair and self-doubt, even though research suggests that the transition from prison life to community life presents enormous financial and emotional stressors, often leading to despair. Few studies have examined the potential impact of prison-based money management programs on reducing incarcerated persons’ despair and self-doubt. This study aimed to explore how prison-based money management programs could address the persistent despair among people transitioning to community life.

Method: The study used propensity score matching and data from the 2016 Survey of Prison Inmates to estimate the effects of engaging in a prison-based money management program on participants' feelings of despair (operationalized as a person’s feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness in the last 30 days). The sample was limited to people who had no life sentences (N=11,023). We first use a logistic regression model to predict the propensity scores of receiving money management training (i.e., the treatment) based on individual demographics, institutional factors, and socioeconomic context. Stata’s ‘pstest’ command was used to assess balance between the two groups after matching. A Sensitivity test was performed using different matching methods to ascertain the quality of the matching.

Results: After matching, there were 2,389 participants in the treatment group and 4,363 in the control group. In the matched sample, the average age was 39.05 (SD=11.64). About 27% of the sample were females and the remaining 73% were males. Findings revealed that receipt of prison-based money management classes was associated with a decrease in the feelings of despair (emotional stress) among prisoners preparing to transition into the community (b=-.049, p<.001). The average treatment effect on the treated group also trended in the same direction (b=-.039, p<.01).

Conclusion and Implications: Prison-based money management programs can be helpful in alleviating the stressors among incarcerated individuals. The small but meaningful psychosocial effects associated with these economic programs underscore the need for policies that support money management education in carceral settings. By addressing financial stressors, individuals may experience improved mental well-being and increased chances of successful rehabilitation.