A conceptual model on reintegration after prison in Norway

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPH-06-2018-0032
• Date: 29 August 2019
• Published date: 29 August 2019
• Pages: 282-292
• Author: Bjørn Kjetil Larsen,Sarah Hean,Atle Ødegård
• Subject Matter: Health & social care,Criminology & forensic psychology,Prisoner health,Sociology,Sociology of crime & law,Public policy & environmental management,Policing,Criminal justice

A conceptual model on reintegration after

prison in Norway

Bjørn Kjetil Larsen, Sarah Hean and Atle Ødegård

Abstract

Purpose –Many offenders struggle when attempting to reintegrate into society after release from prison, and

the conditions they face after release often lead to reoffending. The purpose of this paper is to present a

conceptual model on reintegration after prison. The model has the potential to guide practitioners in their

understanding of the relationships between welfare services and the agency of the offender.

Design/methodology/approach –The model was developed from a small-scale study in the Norwegian

Criminal Justice system, which is well known for its emphasis on rehabilitation and crime prevention.

Data collection aimed to explore the reintegration process from the perspective of the hard-to-reach and

vulnerable population of serial offenders. Nine prisoners in two different prisons were interviewed. A thematic

analysis identified two main themes that related, first, to the personal challenges the offenders faced in the

rehabilitation and reintegration process and, second, to the factors in the welfare services that interacted with

the prisoners’psychosocial issues in the reintegration process.

Findings –Findings suggest that the interaction between the psychosocial needs of the prisoners and the

organization of the welfare services is complex and does not harmonize. The findings underpin the argument

that the current reintegration strategies for certain groups of inmates need to be questioned and challenged.

Research limitations/implications –The model is a conceptual model intended to provide a lens from

which to reinterpret offenders’experiences of reintegration and applied to only the small and exploratory

study described in this paper. As such, it requires further testing and substantiation, and the model and the

study’s findings should be regarded as tentative and cannot be generalized to a larger population.

The prisoners were selected by the first author for convenience, and it is possible that this also influenced

the findings. Other inmates may have presented other experiences.

Originality/value –There are few studies looking into reintegration from the reoffenders’perspective, and

this study also presents a model that serves as a reflective and analytical tool to developing new approaches

to supporting offenders in their reintegration into society from prison in the future.

Keywords Conceptual model, Reintegration, Interprofessional collaboration, Reoffenders,

Social innovation, Welfare services

Paper type Research paper

Introduction

Large numbers of prisoners are released from prison every year. For instance, in 2018, the UK

had a prison population of approximately 92,500 (Sturge, 2018). At some points, these prisoners

will be released, often, however, without the health and welfare support they need, a risk factor

that can result in their reoffending (Skeem and Peterson, 2011). However, despite high levels of

recidivism internationally (Fazel and Wolf, 2015), little is known about offenders’reintegration

processes and how offenders deal with these problems before and after release (Chikadzi, 2017;

Schinkel, 2014). Poor relationships with families as well as with welfare systems have been

shown to contribute to the struggles faced by offenders upon their release and to the failure of

their rehabilitation and reintegration processes (Chikadzi, 2017).

To better understand and address the problems of offender reintegration, it is important that the

voice of the prisoner is heard and kept central to the development of future interventions

designed to improve reintegration. Some of the few research studies that present this point of

view, such as Chikadzi’s (2017), highlight the lack of support received by support services, and it

Received 8 June 2018

Revised 29 November 2018

11 February 2019

15 February 2019

Accepted 15 February 2019

Bjørn Kjetil Larsen is based at

the Department of Health

Sciences, Hogskolen i Molde,

Molde, Norway.

Sarah Hean is based at the

Social Work Department,

Universitetet i Stavanger,

Stavanger, Norway and

Faculty of Health and Sports

Sciences, Bournemouth

University, Poole, UK.

Atle Ødegård is based at the

Department of Health

Sciences, Hogskolen i Molde,

Molde, Norway and

Social Work Department,

Universitetet i Stavanger,

Stavanger, Norway.

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VOL. 15 NO. 3 2019, pp. 282-292, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1744-9200 DOI 10.1108/IJPH-06-2018-0032