Precarious Reentry Amongst Formerly Incarcerated Women

Reentry research with women often highlights individual responsibility and focuses less on structural contributors to criminalization. This study fills a gap in women’s reentry research by showing how while women share common structural conditions (e.g. poverty, homelessness, dislocation) their individual experiences of these factors are influenced by their social positions (e.g. Indigeneity, ability, incarceration history). Drawing on interviews with 15 formerly incarcerated women (FIW) and 15 frontline workers and volunteers (FWV) in non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that provide support to FIW, we explore the precarity of reentry experiences characterized by institutional apathy, social disorientation, isolation, and exclusion. Policy recommendations are provided.