Incarceration, Re-Entry and the Struggle for a Second Chance

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When people talk about crime and punishment, prison is often seen as the main solution. Yet research shows that incarceration doesn't reduce crime as much as many believe. For millions of people who leave prison every year, while their sentences may have ended, their struggle does not. Re-entry is often the hardest part, marked by stigma, mental health struggles, and barriers to employment and housing.

Many people believe that locking up more people makes communities safer. However, research tells a different story. According to The Sentencing Project, the connection between incarceration and crime is surprisingly weak. Their 2024 report found that even though prison populations have grown dramatically over the past few decades, crime has not consistently fallen as a result. In fact, researchers estimate that mass incarceration only explained a small fraction of the drop in crime during the 1990s and today the impact is close to zero. 

If mass incarceration doesn’t solve the problem, what does? Research points toward stronger re-entry support. In California, for example, policy changes that emphasized rehabilitation and community-based programs helped reduce reconvictions. Between 2011 and 2015, reconviction rates dropped from 41% to 35%, and felony reconvictions fell even further — from 30% to 22%. Employment also plays a crucial role in successful reintegration. A study by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce found that people who build job skills and maintain steady work have a three-year recidivism rate of just 16%, compared to 52% for those who remain unemployed. But finding that opportunity isn’t easy. The Prison Policy Initiative reports that people with prior incarceration face an unemployment rate of over 27%, compared to about 5% for the general population. Even so, when people are given fair chances to work and rebuild, the results show that lasting change is possible.

But numbers don’t tell the whole story. Many people leaving prison carry deep scars, such as trauma, depression, anxiety, that are often rooted in experiences before and during incarceration. Once released, they face rejection from employers, landlords, and even their own communities. Without access to mental health care or stable housing, it becomes harder to stay on track and avoid slipping back into the same system they fought to leave. While most re-entry programs focus on adults, early intervention also matters. Studies show that when young people involved in the justice system gain job skills and work experience, their chances of future incarceration drop significantly. Investing in those supports early on helps prevent the same cycle many adults later struggle to break. 

Prison should never be the end of someone’s story. Real public safety isn’t built on punishment but on opportunity. When we invest in re-entry programs, fair-chance hiring, accessible mental health care, and youth job training, people gain the tools to build stable, meaningful lives, and our communities become stronger in the process. The evidence is clear: opportunity is public safety. 

Bird, Mia, Gross, Justin, and Nguyen, Viet. “Recidivism of Felony Offenders in California.” Public Policy Institute of California, June 2019, www.ppic.org/publication/recidivism-of-felony-offenders-in-california/

Couloute, Lucius, and Daniel Kopf. “Out of Prison & Out of Work: Unemployment among Formerly Incarcerated People.” Prison Policy Initiative, 2018, www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/outofwork.html

Ghandnoosh, Nazgol, and Kristen Budd. “Incarceration and Crime: A Weak Relationship.” The Sentencing Project, 13 June 2024, www.sentencingproject.org/reports/incarceration-and-crime-a-weak-relationship/

U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “Data Deep Dive: The Workforce Impact of Second Chance Hiring.” 2023, www.uschamber.com/workforce/data-deep-dive-the-workforce-impact-of-second-chance-hiring-3