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Peer-Mentored Community Reentry Reduces Recidivism

NCJ Number
255803
Journal
Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 47 Issue: 4 Dated: 2020 Pages: 437-456
Author(s)
Dave Sells; Anderson Curtis; Jehan Abdur-Raheem; Michele Klimczak; Charles Barber; Cathleen Meaden; Jacob Hasson; Patrick Fallon; Meredith Emigh-Guy
Date Published
2020
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This study examined the effect of peer mentorship on 55 men recently released from incarceration, using a pilot randomized controlled trial.
Abstract
Because most people released from incarceration in the criminal justice system return to prison within 3 years, national initiatives have promoted new and revitalized community reentry programming, including peer mentorship; however, the effectiveness of the latter approach has not received sufficient evaluation. Hierarchical binary logistic regression - including recidivism risk and group assignment to either a condition of standard services for community reentry or standard services plus peer mentorship condition - showed that those receiving mentorship had significantly lower recidivism. The peer mentorship model used in the study focused on early intervention, relationship quality, criminal desistance, social navigation, and gainful citizenship. Given this pilot's small sample, future research should confirm this association on a larger scale, enabling longitudinal and treatment component analyses that examine the relative contributions of mentorship model factors. (publisher abstract modified)