Date of Conferral

2023

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Public Policy and Administration

Advisor

Anne Hacker

Abstract

Prison reentry programs attempt to equip justice-involved veterans with life skills necessary for their transition out of prison. This qualitative study addressed the scant understanding of the impact pre-released prison reentry programs have on justice-involved veterans’ transition and reintegration back to the community. The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe the perceptions of justice-involved veterans regarding prison reentry programs that have impacted their transition out of prison. The well-being development model and Castro’s military-to-civilian transition model provided the conceptual framework for this qualitative study, using semistructured questions to interview 11 justice-involved veterans regarding their participation in prison reentry programs. Directed content analysis was used to categorize, synthesize, and interpret data. The first theme revealed that prison reentry programs helped with transition when there was family support, when one participated in industry reentry training, when there is community support, and housing. The second theme that emerged from the data revealed that prison reentry programs did not help with transition when prison reentry programs were cancelled due to SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), prisoners faced difficulty in adjusting, had no knowledge of community resources, received no help from prison, and did not have access to housing, transportation, or healthcare. The research findings may contribute to positive social change by engaging justice-involved veteran stakeholders to review and revise prison reentry policies for justice-involved veterans.

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