Date of Conferral

2021

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Social Work

Advisor

Sonia Gilkey

Abstract

Wrongfully convicted individuals are abruptly taken from their traditional roles and positioned in new roles prematurely. Without adequate preparation, exonerees struggle to reintegrate back into roles they once strived in. This study aimed to understand the experiences of African American male exonerees' reintegrating into the spouse/intimate partner role in the family. Schlossberg's transition theory served as the theoretical foundation to examine how exonerees might navigate these stages to promote successful reintegration in society and intimate relationships. The research questions sought to understand how African American male exonerees perceive their transition from an inmate role into an intimate role while trying to fathom the impact of prison and what resources would assist with the transition. The inclusion criteria required participants to be exonerated African American males in an intimate relationship before and after incarceration. Nine exonerees were recruited using the snowball sampling strategy, and semistructured interviews were conducted via telephone, Zoom, and email. The data were analyzed using the thematic analysis approach. As a result, three themes, namely, emotional turmoil, public advocacy within communities, and the invisible experience, in addition to three subthemes, relationship distancy, psychosocial support, and the prison effects, emerged from the data. Gaining a better understanding of exonerees' reintegration experiences into their spouse/intimate partner roles will contribute to positive social change by improving the knowledge base and increasing positive outcomes, short and long-term. This study could be used as a vehicle to highlight the target population's barriers and needs post-exoneration to impact their transition positively.

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