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This paper examines the role of family in the prisoner reintegration process, exploring the views of soon-to-be-released prisoners regarding the family support they expect to receive as well as their assessments of how supportive family members actually were after release. It draws on a study of 413 male prisoners returning to the cities of Baltimore and Chicago who completed self-administered surveys one to two months prior to their release and one-on-one interviews between two and three months after release from prison. The study found that released prisoners relied on family members extensively for housing, financial support, and emotional support. For the most part, the pre-release expectations of family support among these respondents were exceeded after release. Furthermore, respondents placed greater value on the role of family in their reintegration process after their release from prison than they did when they were still incarcerated. This suggests that families are an important influence in the reentry process and that they provide much-needed support to returning prisoners. (Contains 1 table, 3 figures, and 6 notes.)

In 2000, the Justice Policy Center at the Urban Institute launched its ongoing investment in prisoner reentry research to address the dearth of studies on this important topic, with the [...]

The use of geographic information systems (GIS) to understand spatial patterns of crime and criminal behavior has become more prevalent in recent years, but with a few exceptions these analyses fall short of serving as predictive tools. The recent introduction of user-friendly, raster-based mapping software, designed primarily for environmental and planning purposes, offers new tools for examining and predicting crime and criminal behavior. By applying opportunity theories to the crime of residential burglary, this article examines the utility of raster-based mapping software for predicting desirable and undesirable locations of burglaries, as well as likely locations for crime displacement or diffusion. The findings reveal that the model holds promise for serving these prediction purposes.

This article employs Routine Activities and Crime Pattern theories to explore the factors that lead to increased risk of bike theft, focusing on Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority Metrorail (Metro) property. Utilizing the Metro bike census and other data, we use negative binomial regression analysis to model the relationship between bike thefts and various station- and neighborhood-level risk factors that can either create or close off opportunities for bike thefts. The findings indicate that bike thefts around Metro stations are positively influenced by the number of targets, as measured by the number of bikes per station, and the presence of likely offenders, as measured by the volume of auto-related larcenies. Stations that have greater guardianship, as measured by the number of nearby businesses, are less likely to experience bike theft. The implications of these findings for theory, methodological considerations, and crime prevention are discussed. We suggest that bike racks can be placed in locations with greater informal guardianship, and discuss ways our findings can inform traditional interventions such as bike locking campaigns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]