Beyond Bars: Rejoining Society After Prison

Beyond Bars is practical book on a topic of urgent importance that is all but invisible to the larger society. Just as prisons are hidden away from us, so are the many obstacles that stand in the way of offenders' successfully rejoining society after prison. Reentry is a lonely and often demoralizing process. This beautifully written and engrossing book lays out in careful and even painstaking detail the challenges that confront returning offenders and offers thoughtful guidance on adaptation and survival in the free world. Beyond Bars is essential reading for offenders reentering society, for their loved ones, and for justice professionals who want to make a positive difference in their lives of their clients. Beyond Bars is, moreover, a wonderful counterpart to Behind Bars: Surviving Prison, also by the same authors. Robert Johnson, American University

This book really opened my eyes to just how difficult it is for one to make it in the outside world after doing a stint in prison. For those looking to turn their lives around after doing their time, they enter a world where not many people want to give them a second chance. Many employers will not consider hiring ex-cons and many other employers can't even if they wanted to. When they do find a job, their ex-con status automatically makes them the prime suspect or scapegoat if anything goes wrong in the office (such as a theft). In this book, Jeffrey Ross and Stephen Richards carefully outlines all of these minefields and gives good advice on how to steer clear of them. For example, the book recommends that you avoid owning a car (at least during your probation period) due to the simple fact that cops run plates of cars as a matter of routine while on their shifts. When a plate number comes back as registered to somebody who is on probation, more often than not, they are going assume the worst and pull that car over to check things out. Anybody who has seen a few episodes of COPS will know how quickly those "routine stops" can take a turn for the worse. If a passenger in your car is doing or holding something illegal, even if you don't know about it, guess who's going back to jail. The United States has a staggering amount of people who have gotten tangled up in the criminal justice system, many of whom initially got in for relatively minor, non-violent offenses. But once you get a felony rap on your record, the odds are against you going forward, especially in the age of the Internet where neighbors and employers can easily access your record and blacklist you. One of the main reasons the criminal recidivism rate is so high in this country is because first-time offenders coming out of prison find that their criminal record has tarnished them for life, closing many of the doors that lead to a productive and law-abiding lifestyle. This book does not sugar-coat the obstacles that these people are facing but does give them straightforward advice on how to keep themselves from violating their parole/probation and going back to jail. The authors of this book make an excellent case for overhauling the way we currently release prisoners back into society. Even to this day, most prisons literally release people with nothing but the clothes on their back, a bus ticket and maybe $25 in pocket money. Is it any wonder that many of them end up coming right back to prison? It seems that prisons these days are not about rehabilitating people but warehousing them. Until we as a society get serious about reforming the system, we can expect this revolving door to continue.

In Beyond Bars, Jeffrey Ross and Stephen Richards give good practical advice in a straight forward style. The main focus of this book is on the days and months right after release from prison. It also includes information on preparing for life after prison starting long before release and has three good appendixes to guide you to sources of help. If you or someone you know you know will be transitioning from prison to life outside, read this book to avoid the pitfalls that send so many people back to prison.

As a prior offender myself, I read this book with great interest. I personally have been out of prison for some time now, earned a Doctorate, and I am now employed as a tenured track professor. I research and publish on Criminal Justice Policies and outcomes. For most offenders surviving their return to society (re-entry) is a daunting task. Re-adjusting to society, learning how to deal with your prior offense with employers, new associates and friends, and developing a solid understanding of what is and what is not helpful as you try to make your way back into society: well, knowledgeable guidance is most helpful and hard to get. So many earnest parolees have difficulty coming to terms and learning all of this, all at once. This book informs on all these issues and more in an intentionally easily readable fashion. I would recommend families or friends of inmates getting out of jail/prison to get them a copy of this book and have them read it several times. It will help understand what they are facing and how to best deal with it. For college and university courses, this is a solid book to use as a reader to help students see and understand the many problems ex-convicts face re-entering society, and the type of coping skills they need to develop to make it on probation or parole. With 1 in 31 Americans in jail, prison or under some form of criminal justice supervision, this is a timely and desperately needed book by two authors who know what they are talking about. I most highly recommend this book.

As a PhD student in Criminology who has focused a large portion of his studies on the issue of reentry, I can tell that there is a vital need for resources such as this book. Prisons in America do not do a good job helping prisoners make the transition from the very structured environment of prison to the unstructured environment of the free world. There is also a lack of resources available for people who are released from prison available through prisons, probation and parole. This book provides valuable information for inmates and their families, as well as for criminal justice professionals working with them.