Time After Time: Imprisonment, Re-entry and Enduring Temporariness

Abstract

This chapter aims to address the scant attention that has been paid to time and temporalities in re-entry and re/integration research. Drawing on data from the ‘Distant Voices—Coming Home’ project, which used creative methods to explore re/integration after punishment—we illustrate and analyse three ‘travails’ of penal time. We use the term travails here to stress the significant, difficult and active work involved in addressing these temporal challenges. Respectively, these travails concern the struggles caused by ‘de-synchrony’ between time inside and outside of prison and the problems of ‘re-synchrony’ that it creates; the contestation of ‘readiness’ for progression and release; and the problem of living with the paradox of ‘enduring temporariness’. In our conclusion, we argue that tackling these three challenges requires people re-entering society to travel not just through spaces and to places but also through time, both backwards and forwards. These journeys are fraught with both difficulty and danger.

What is optimal integrated multi-agency Throughcare? A global e-Delphi consensus study defining core components of effective rehabilitation and reintegration programming

“…Experts also agreed on the need to carefully consider and incorporate various aspects of individualised transitional health assessment, care and support, cognisant of comorbidities, gendered vulnerabilities and age responsive care programming. This aligns with extant literature on special (or particularly vulnerable) prison populations (those with co-morbid health issues including mental illness, disability and/or substance use, women with children, aging detainees, minority groups) who require additional targeted and appropriate supports (Brooker, 2007;Burnett and Maruna, 2004;Durnescu, 2018Durnescu, , 2019Fu et al, 2013;Kinner and Wang, 2014;Link and Hamilton, 2017;Maruna, 2011;Moran, 2012;McNeill et al, 2022;Miller et al, 2016;Penal Reform International, 2019;Pleggenkuhle et al, 2016;Van Hout et al, 2021;Zortman et al, 2016). Trauma, chronic ill health and rates Individualised post-release housing supports should be provided in "Throughcare" 108 0 6 (6) 102 (95) Dimension seven: Transitional health and special populations Health literacy is important for "Throughcare" leading to empowerment to understand healthy behaviours, taking an active role in their own health care, managing their own health-care needs and making healthier lifestyle choices 108 0 6 (6) 100 (93) Individualised pre-release transitional health supports cognizant of the complex often comorbid needs of people deprived of their liberty should be provided ideally up to 12 months prior to release in "Throughcare" 108 0 6 (6) 99 (92) Individualised pre-release support should provide people deprived of their liberty with care planning which includes a range of services, such as assessments to identify health-care needs and develop a comprehensive care plan, as well as linkage to community-based health-care providers and support services 108 0 2 (2) 105 (97) Individualised post-release transitional health supports cognisant of the complex often co-morbid needs of former people deprived of their liberty should be provided up to 12 months post release in "Throughcare" 108 0 7 ( 7) 97 (90) Post-release transitional health supports should include a range of services, such as medical and mental health assessments, medication management and access to specialised care and treatment programmes 108 0 7 ( 6) 100 ( 93 Experts also agreed on the importance of rebuilding family and community relationships and encouraging the involvement of family members and various community actors in pre-and post-release support mechanisms (Akoensi and Tankebe, 2020;B-Competent, 2021;…”

“…Experts also agreed on the need to carefully consider and incorporate various aspects of individualised transitional health assessment, care and support, cognisant of co-morbidities, gendered vulnerabilities and age responsive care programming. This aligns with extant literature on special (or particularly vulnerable) prison populations (those with co-morbid health issues including mental illness, disability and/or substance use, women with children, aging detainees, minority groups) who require additional targeted and appropriate supports (Brooker, 2007; Burnett and Maruna, 2004; Durnescu, 2018, 2019; Fu et al , 2013; Kinner and Wang, 2014; Link and Hamilton, 2017; Maruna, 2011; Moran, 2012; McNeill et al , 2022; Miller et al , 2016; Penal Reform International, 2019; Pleggenkuhle et al , 2016; Van Hout et al , 2021; Zortman et al , 2016). Trauma, chronic ill health and rates of communicable (HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, viral hepatitis, sexually transmitted infections) and non-communicable disease (cancers, mental health disorders problematic substance use) and related morbidities and mortalities are disproportionately high among prison populations (Akiyama et al , 2022; Bradshaw et al , 2017; Dolan et al , 2016; European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction/European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, 2018; European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, 2021; Fazel and Baillargeon, 2011; Fazel et al , 2017; World Health Organization, 2023; International Committee of the Red Cross, 2023).…”

“…Various terminologies are used interchangeably and unreflexively to describe prisoner resettlement approaches (for example, reintegration, reinsertion, re-entry, rehabilitation, reformation, resocialisation) (McNeill and Graham, 2018). Return to the community on release from prison is a period of substantial stress and challenge to the former prisoner, and is often fraught with difficulties, danger and the navigation of risks (Angell et al, 2014;Binswanger et al, 2012;Brooker, 2007;Bukten et al, 2017;Cutcher et al, 2014;Durnescu, 2018;Fazel and Baillargeon, 2011;Kendall et al, 2018;Maruna, 2011;McNeill et al, 2022;Moran, 2012;Scheirs, 2016;Wormith et al, 2007). Re-entry stages are posited to include "pre-releaseanticipation, recovery and reunion, activation, consolidation, and relapse" and are heavily dependent on the navigation of various personal, social and structural "pains of re-entry" (Durnescu, 2018;2019).…”

“…Post-release experiences are characterised by substantial social adaptation issues in the form of navigating familial relationships and community level stigmatisation and various challenges in securing valid identification, stable accommodation and finances and accessing employment, health care and education (Borzycki, 2005;Brooker, 2007;Burnett and Maruna, 2004;Durnescu, 2018;Maruna, 2011;Moran, 2012;Pasma et al, 2023;United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2018). Re-incarceration and the revolving door of failed social integration, reoffending and reconviction is strongly associated with experiences of stigma, and poor engagement with health and social services, particularly regarding the inadequate treatment of substance use and mental health problems (Burnett and Maruna, 2004;Durnescu, 2018;Fu et al, 2013;Kinner and Wang, 2014;Link and Hamilton, 2017;Miller et al, 2016;Pleggenkuhle et al, 2016;McNeill et al, 2022;Zortman et al, 2016).…”

‘A whole new world …’: Exploring transcarceral habitus and women's transition from a closed to an open prison

“…So, I was missing loads of appointments, I was all over the spot. (Joanne, HMP Open) Indeed, adjustments in time played a key role in women's descriptions of adjustment and the role of time in both the substantive and embodied experience of incarceration is well documented (McNeill et al, 2022;Moran, 2012;Wahidin, 2002). During this process, time shaped women's experiences of transition and emphasised the distance and distinctiveness between closed and open conditions.…”