Not just by rates of recidivism: how NYC black men define success after prison

Abstract A qualitative study using data from semi-structured interviews of 17 formerly incarcerated African American men was used to provide an understanding of post-prison success defined by the men after having been in the community at least 3 years. Rejecting traditional notions of success related to rates of recidivism as the defining element of success, success, as defined by the men in the study included several components. The findings of this study demonstrate that success is a construct inclusive of material, social, and psychological components. Various themes emerged from the data to which respondents attached importance that were linked to each component of success. These findings can enhance the practice for a range of human service providers and others who work with justice-involved African American men and enable them to better understand and serve this population, while also encouraging the development of additional methods to address the challenges related to release post-prison, reentry policy, and reentry programing.