Building the Ties that Bind, Breaking the Ties that Don't: Family Support, Criminal Peers, and Reentry Success

Abstract

Research Summary Although family support is an important protective factor against recidivism, less is known about how the domain of family works with other elements of the risk–need–responsivity model. By using the Serious and Violent Offenders Reentry Initiative (SVORI) data, we explore whether family and criminal peers have (a) independent and (b) interdependent effects on substance abuse and crime after release from prison. The outcomes of multilevel models demonstrate that the risk factor of criminal peers is as strong, or stronger, of a predictor of substance abuse and crime as is the protective factor of family support for offenders during reentry. Policy Implications Institution‐based policies aimed primarily at improving family ties for reentering offenders must begin focusing as much on peers as they do on family. These programs should instead focus on improving family ties (thereby increasing a protective factor) while focusing on severing the offender's relationships with criminally inclined friends (thereby decreasing a risk factor).