Boston Reentry Study
The Boston Reentry Study (BRS) is a mixed-methods, longitudinal study of 122 men and women released from Massachusetts state prisons to the Boston area. It is a collaborative study led by Bruce Western, Anthony Braga (Northeastern), and Rhiana Kohl (MA DOC) focusing on the transition into the community during their first year after prison release. The data collection combined a panel survey, qualitative interviews, interviews with family members, and administrative records on criminal history. The BRS traces the complexity of integration after incarceration and draws from their life histories, including childhood experiences, to understand how individual biographies shape their transition into the community. Remarkably, over the one year of follow up, the BRS sustained an unparalleled response rate of 94 percent.
New York Reentry Study
The New York Reentry Study (NYRS), led by Bruce Western, is a longitudinal panel survey of 33 men who were released from incarceration on Rikers Island Jails. The series of five semi-structured interviews focus on the topics of housing, employment, health, community membership, and criminal justice system contact. The unique study design of NYRS also incorporates interviews with up to three people in each respondent's network to better understand the impact of incarceration and reentry on families. By combining data gathered directly from respondents and their closest kin with administrative records, the NYRS aims to provide new insights into the process of reentry for men and their families across New York City.
Research from the Reentry Studies
Publications:
Homeward: Life in the Year After Prison. Bruce Western. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Formerly Incarcerated Parents and their Children. Bruce Western and Natalie Smith. 2018
l Inequality in Employment and Earnings after Incarceration. Bruce Western and Catherine Sirois. 2018.
A Longitudinal Survey of Newly-Released Prisoners: Methods and Design of the Boston Reentry Study. Bruce Western, Anthony Braga, and Rhiana Kohl. 2017. Federal Probation, 81(1):32-40.
Study Retention as Bias Reduction in a Hard-to-Reach Population. Bruce Western, Anthony Braga, David Hureau, and Catherine Sirois. 2016. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(20):5477-5485.
Stress and Hardship After Prison. Bruce Western, Anthony Braga, Jaclyn Davis, and Catherine Sirois. 2015. American Journal of Sociology, 120(5):1512-1547.
Lifetimes of Violence in a Sample of Released Prisoners. Bruce Western. 2015. RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, 1(2):14-30.
Working Papers:
Neighborhood Attainment After Prison. Jessica Simes. 2016.