Social support systems have often been a significant model of intervention when addressing behavioural deviance. In most cases, recidivism often results from the absence of effective social support structures to allow for reintegration of the released convicts back into the society (Bohmert, Duwe, & Hipple, 2018). As such, the family is often involved in the process of integration to ensure positive outcomes from the integration efforts and to reduce recidivism. It therefore becomes important to understand how family and crime relate as intrinsic aspects of the society as this helps in the development of positive policies that would effectively address recidivism. This paper shall seek to gain a deeper understanding of the topic, by discussing the opinion of Mowen, and Visher, (2015) regarding the role of family support and family conflict in drug use and crime after incarceration. It is argued that; effective family support reduces, while family conflict promotes drug use and recidivism.
Summary of the study
In Mowen, and Visher, (2015), the authors identified a gap in existing literature that focused on the role that family support and conflict plays in either the prevention or encouragement of drug use among former inmates. The study involved 740 participants and relied on social control theory to determine whether family interaction had an impact on re-entry, into the community and society. Based on the study, the researchers observed that both drug use and recidivism, and the point of occurrence were directly affected by family conflict. However, the authors observed that there was no coincidence between family support and the two variables that there was seemingly no causal relationship between family support and re-entry. The implications of the observation was that, while family support is an important factor in promoting effective reintegration of formerly incarcerated individuals, the presence of conflict in the family increases the risk of drug use and recidivism.
The findings of the researchers are significant in policy and practice due to the fact that it seeks to instruct the structure of social support systems. Social control theory argues that positive social interactions based on positive norms and social beliefs, relationships and values promote normative behaviours (Rimal & Lapinski, 2015). As such, in the absence of conflict in the society, the formerly incarcerated individual would be discouraged from participation in further crime. As such, while social support is effective in allowing the individual to identify with the society towards effective integration, the presence of conflict, even when support is present, would result in negative outcome. In promoting positive interactions, reduced family conflict is a significant strategy which would improve the interactions between the family members and hence result in more effective re-entry (Mowen & Visher, 2015). The results of the study offer significant insight into the impact of the nature of social support structures on effective recidivism intervention.
Conclusion
The society should be directly involved in addressing the issue of crime as crime is as a result of the structure of the society. In offering structures through which such interventions are implemented, their effectiveness would be greatly enhanced. In seeking to understand the impact of social support structure on recidivism, an analysis of current literature on the topic became necessary. It has been noted that conflict in the support system negatively affects the effectiveness of recidivism intervention and promotes drug use. However, what has not been understood is whether such conflict is a cultural annotation and hence would affect different racial demographics differently. It is therefore recommended that scholarship and policy design and develop studies into the differences in the impact of family conflict on drug use and crime after incarceration among different racial and socio-economic groups. This would help in the development of targeted policies to address recidivism by tailor-making policies to the different cultures.
- Bohmert, M. N., Duwe, G., & Hipple, N. K. (2018). Evaluating restorative justice circles of support and accountability: can social support overcome structural barriers? International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology, 62(3), 739-758.
- Mowen, T. J., & Visher, C. A. (2015). Drug use and crime after incarceration: The role of family support and family conflict. Justice Quarterly, 32(2), 337-359.
- Rimal, R. N., & Lapinski, M. K. (2015).A re-explication of social norms, ten years later.Communication Theory, 25(4), 393-409.
