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An Examination of the Impact of Formerly Incarcerated Persons Helping Others

Thomas P. LeBelUniversity of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

Paper Presented at the Prisoner Reentry Institute Occasional Series on Reentry Research

John Jay College of Criminal JusticeApril 18, 2008

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Interest in a Career Helping Others Among Formerly Incarcerated Persons

“Most of the program staff themselves, often the directors, are ex-convicts….This type of career is very popular among prisoners and ex-prisoners. When I have asked prisoners what they would like to do in the future, many say they want a job counseling other people, usually young people.” (Irwin, 2005, p. 178).

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Theory and Research About Benefits of Helping Others

Helper therapy principle (Riessman, 1965, 1990)

Wounded healers (White, 2000) Retroflexive reformation (Cressey,

1955, 1965) The professional ex- (Brown, 1991) Desistance from crime (Maruna, 2001)

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Helper Therapy Principle Calls attention to the benefits the ”helper

receives from being in the helper role” (Riessman, 1965, p. 32).

Reinforcement of personal learning Social approval and acceptance Sense of meaning, purpose, and

accomplishment Improved self-esteem and self-worth Better treatment outcomes

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Wounded Healers (White, 2000)

Persons in recovery from substance use helping others

Assets: Personal experience Emotional identification (kinship) Absence of condescension and contempt A zeal (calling) to heal others Ability to use own stories to incite hope A willingness to be more directive The capacity to serve as a role model Mutual aid societies

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Retroflexive Reformation Social psychological foundations for using

criminals in the rehabilitation of criminals (Cressey, 1955, 1965).

“A group in which criminal A joins with some non-criminals to change criminal B is probably most effective in changing criminal A, not B. In order to change criminal B, criminal A must necessarily share the values of the anti-criminal members” (Cressey, 1955, p. 119).

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The Professional Ex- It is important to consider how one might

“adopt a legitimate career premised upon an identity that embraces one’s deviant history” (Brown, 1991, p. 220).

“Professional ex-s” are individuals who have “exited their deviant careers by replacing them with occupations in professional counseling” (Brown, 1991, p. 219).

For the study discussed today: Several staff members stated that “this is the

only job where my criminal record is viewed as an asset.”

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Helping Others and Desistance from Crime

Individuals “going straight” are significantly more care-oriented, other-centered and focused on promoting the next generation (Maruna, 2001).

“The desisting self-narrative frequently involves reworking a delinquent history into a source of wisdom to be drawn from while acting as a drug counselor, youth worker, community volunteer, or mutual-help group member” (Maruna, 2001, p. 117).

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Research Questions 1) To what degree do formerly

incarcerated persons think of themselves as helpers/wounded healers?

2) What factors might account for any differences in the helper orientation?

3) Is thinking of oneself as a helper related to well-being and criminality?

How do staff differ from program participants?

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Sample and Data Collection Sample (N = 228)

Formerly incarcerated persons in NYC and Upstate NY

Men and women Participants in 6 reintegration programs

Data collection Part of larger study of perceptions of and

responses to stigma Self-administered questionnaire “Closed-ended” questions – Likert scales

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Organizations Where Participants were Recruited

Father Peter Young’s Housing, Industry, and Treatment Network (PYHIT)

The Fortune Society Exodus Transitional Community (ETC) The Women’s Prison Association (WPA) The Osborne Association The Center for Community Alternatives

(CCA) The Syracuse Recovery Community Service

Program (SRCSP)

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Select Sample Characteristics

Variable Meanor %

(SD)

Age 36.14 (9.68)

Gender (male) 85%

Black, non-Latino 58%

Time served (months) 87.23 (71.42)

Violent felony (lifetime) 41%

Supervision status (none) 32%

Voluntarily at program 46%

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Measuring the Helper Orientation

I often share my past experiences to help others avoid making the same mistakes I made.

I am a good role model for other former prisoners who are trying to go straight.

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Measuring the Helper Orientation (cont.)

I act as a mentor of sorts for prisoners and former prisoners that need help to get back on their feet.

I plan to pursue (or am currently pursuing) a career where I can give back and help other people such as former prisoners, youth in trouble with the law, or people with drug/alcohol addictions.

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Plan to Pursue Career Helping Others

Question: “I plan to pursue (or am currently pursuing) a careerwhere I can give back and help other people such as former prisoners,youth in trouble with the law, or people with drug/alcohol addictions.”

Stronglydisagree

(1)

Disagree(2)

Slightlydisagree

(3)

Neitheragree norDisagree

(4)

Slightlyagree

(5)

Agree(6)

Stronglyagree

(7)

4.0% 8.4% 2.6% 20.7% 6.2% 28.2% 30.0%

Mean = 5.2158.2% Agree of Strongly agree12.4% Disagree or Strongly disagree

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The Helper/Wounded Healer Orientation Scale

Indicator Mean (SD)

Share experiences 6.00 (1.46)

Role model 5.20 (1.67)

Mentor 4.88 (1.65)

Pursue Career 5.21 (1.78)

Total 5.32 (1.21)

α = .72Note: 1 = Strongly disagree, 7 = Strongly agree

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Factors Related to the Helper Orientation?

Demographics – Age, gender, race/ethnicity

Social bonds – Family and friends, education, full-time job,

remorse Criminal history –

time served, # felony convictions, violent felony conviction, supervision status

Program - voluntarily attend, time involved Group identification Perceptions of stigma (personal) Normalization of prison experience in

neighborhood where grew up

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Correlates of Helper Orientation

Variable Helperorientation scale

Age (in years) .204**Black, non-Latino .191**Social bonds (family + friends) .169*Remorse .243***Time served (lifetime) .142*Supervision status (none) .182**Voluntarily attend program .136*Group identification .248***Pairwise deletion is used for missing data. N rangesfrom 213 to 226. *** p < .001, ** p < .01,* p < .05.

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Regression Analysis Explaining the Helper Orientation

Variable B SE B Beta

Remorse .119** (.044) .177

Group identification .170* (.074) .161

Supervision status (none) .357* (.174) .142

Black, non-Latino .319* (.147) .140

R2 .209

Note: N = 228. Significant predictors are shown.Mean substitution is used for missing data. ** p ≤ .01, * p ≤ .05.

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Importance of Helper Orientation?

Criminality Criminal attitude Recidivism

•Forecast of rearrest in next 3 years

Well-being Satisfaction with life Self-esteem

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Correlations Between Helper Orientation and Outcomes

Variable Helperorientation

scaleCriminal attitude -.315**Forecast of recidivism for self(rearrest in next 3 years)

-.189*

Satisfaction with life as a whole .284**Self-esteem (Rosenberg scale) .238**

Note: Pairwise deletion is used for missing data.N ranges from 221 to 226. These are two-tailedsignificance tests, ** p < .001, * p < .01.

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Regression Analyses Explaining Well-being

Variable SatisfactionWith life

Self-esteem

Helper orientation .248**(.064)

.125*(.053)

Social bonds (family + friends) .250**(.059)

.217**(.048)

Education level .245*(.097)

.197*(.079)

Stigma (personal) -.208**(.057)

-.152**(.046)

R2 .307 .268

Note: The unstandardized coefficients and standard errors are shown. Significant predictors are shown. Mean substitution is used for missing data. ** p < .01, * p < .05.

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Regression Analyses Explaining Criminality

Variable Criminalattitude

Forecast of rearrest

Helper orientation -.253**(.076)

-.137*(.066)

Education level -.238*(.117)

-.382**(.102)

Remorse -.155**(.051)

-.087*(.044)

Employed full-time -.617**(.221)

Stigma (personal) .214**(.067)

Normalization .181**(.058)

R2 .309 .158

Note: The unstandardized coefficients and standard errors are shown. Mean substitution is used for missing data. ** p < .01, * p < .05.

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Formerly Incarcerated Persons as Program Staff

29 completed questionnaire Age: Mean = 42.59 Gender

18 male, 11 female Race/ethnicity

15 Black, non-Latino, 12 Latino, 2 White, non-Latino

Time served: Mean = 119 months Violent felony conviction (lifetime): 50% Supervision status (none): 69%

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Comparison of Staff and Program Participants

Variable Staff (29)

Program participants

(228)

Helper orientation

6.38 5.32

Criminal attitude 1.97 2.66

Forecast of rearrest 1.48 2.08

Self-esteem 5.74 5.44

Satisfaction with life

5.41 4.38

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Summary of Findings Many formerly incarcerated persons

strongly endorse the helper orientation Helpers are remorseful, identify strongly

with others, are not under supervision, and are Black, non-Latino

Helping helps the helper Positive relationship with well-being Negative relationship with criminality Findings especially strong for staff

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Research Implications Document the growing role of formerly

incarcerated persons as helpers, wounded healers and professional ex-s

Learn more about mutual-help groups and mentoring among formerly incarcerated persons

Study the effectiveness of mutual-help for both the helpers and recipients of help

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Policy Implications The helper orientation transforms formerly

incarcerated persons from being part of “the problem” into part of “the solution” as they give back

Devise ways of creating more helpers Make opportunities to engage in mutual-help

more widely available Provide aid and support to promote the

completion of certification programs and college degrees

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Lifers Public Safety Steering Committee at Graterford, PA

“One ensures change by assisting in the efforts to change others” (2004, p. 60)

“Society should begin to use the experience, knowledge, insight, and expertise of transformed ex-offenders to do the work that members of the community and those in positions of authority are not equipped to do” (2004, p. 65).