Service Providers’ and Re-entrants’ Perspectives of Community Re-entry and Community Reintegration Programs After Incarceration

The purpose of the study was to elucidate the occupational challenges of re-entrants. Convenience and snowball recruitment strategies were used to solicit participants for this exploratory, interpretive phenomenological approach study. Five re-entry service providers and four re-entrants completed extensive interviews. Three levels of open, axial coding were completed with the transcripts. Two primary contexts were acknowledged between service providers and re-entrants: Barriers and Successful Reintegration. Themes were identified: Appreciating Re-entrants' Narratives, Person Centered Approach, Networking and Relationships, and Process & Transformation. Service providers perceived re-entrants as focusing on stability in the re-entrants' lives. Re-entrants reflected on their occupational engagement to include obtaining employment, maintaining mental health stability, and adapting to the demands of society. The results suggest a need to better understand the unique and individual needs of re-entrants and the complexity of occupational engagement and co-occupations within community re-entry.