ABSTRACT
Mass incarceration in the United States has been a concern since the 1970s. Reentry research attempts to identify and understand the challenges and needs individuals confront when released from incarceration. Mass incarceration and high recidivism rates have been identified as major societal problems. Measuring recidivism as rearrest, reconviction, and reincarceration, Beck and Shipley discovered that inmates are most susceptible to return to the criminal justice system during their first three years of release. Defining recidivism as rearrest, reincarceration, or overall recidivism, the Pennsylvania report found that approximately 60 percent of prison inmates recidivate within three years of release and that recidivism rates have been slowly increasing since 2000. Lack of employment opportunities may serve as a key determinant of recidivism. The goal of Prison Industry Enhancement (PIE) was to bring more employment opportunities into prisons and to develop linkages between private business and public prisons.
