9.16. Current Issues in Corrections: Reentry and the Future of 
Corrections 
DAVID CARTER 
Reentry and the Revolving Door 
Parole, as discussed in the previous chapter, has had mixed reviews. Overall, the effectiveness of parole 
hovers around 50% success. It is estimated somewhere between 600,000 and 800,000 parolees are on parole 
in any given year over the last 3 decades. Additionally, several hundred thousand are exiting parole in each 
of these years. This brings up questions about what happens to these individuals. The reality is that most 
of them will be rearrested. In one of the more comprehensive studies on recidivism, Alper, Durose, and 
Markman (2018) discussed the recidivism rate of individuals tracked over a 9-year follow up period. What 
they found was that rearrest occurred for about 70% in the first three years, and by year 9, 83% of the 
individuals released has been rearrested. Many of these individuals return to prison, hence the concept of 
the “revolving door” of justice. In order for reentry programs to be more successful, individuals returning to 
society need assistance to get back on their feet and stay on their feet. This includes items such as education 
and training, employment assistance to get a job, legal services, education on public benefits, and housing 
assistance. Interestingly, it appears as though many of the items here are the same items that many of them 
had deficits in that landed them in trouble in their lives before 
1 That is – many of these items are those same 
predictors of offending that were discussed in the first section (known as the know predictors of recidivism). 
Unfortunately, it appears as though they are not getting these while they are incarcerated. Again, creating a 
cycle of release and catch again. 
Situations and circumstances that compound these problems for many ex-offenders is the difficulty faced 
with trying to get a job once released. Over the last 20 years, there was an overwhelming push to include 
items on employment applications that asked questions about prior incarceration history. Not only were 
there questions about prior incarcerations and prior convictions, but many employers also have questions 
about ever being arrested. If an individual told the truth (which is what they should do), the reality is 
that their applications would be discarded, or overlooked for others without an arrest/conviction. If an 
ex-offender lied about it, and it was discovered during a background investigation, the application was 
1. Alper, M., Durose, M. R., & Markman, J. (2018). Update on prisoner recidivism: A 9-year follow-up period (2005-2014). U.S. 
Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics. https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/18upr9yfup0514.pdf 
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