249185 Released to Life: True Stories of Returning Home After Incarceration

Monday, October 31, 2011: 7:12 PM

Yavar Moghimi, MD , Department of Psychiatry, George Washington University, Washington, DC
It is estimated in the United States that one in every 31 adults are a part of correctional institutions. This is the highest rate of involvement in the criminal justice system in the world. After spending years separated from society, how would it feel to return home to a place that you no longer know? Each year over half a million people in the U.S. are released from prisons and jails. They have served their time, but the shadow of their past convictions continues to follow them. "Released to Life: True Stories of Coming Home After Incarceration" is a short documentary that focuses on several recently released individuals in their struggle to redefine themselves and offers a view into the unique challenges they face.

Learning Areas:
Communication and informatics
Diversity and culture
Other professions or practice related to public health
Public health or related public policy
Social and behavioral sciences
Systems thinking models (conceptual and theoretical models), applications related to public health

Learning Objectives:
1)Describe the psychosocial challenges previously incarcerated persons face when reentering into society. 2)Identify the ways in which our current correctional system fails to rehabilitate previously incarcerated people resulting in a high recidivism rate. 3)Analyze the first-hand experiences of previously incarcerated people. 4)Assess prisoner reentry programs and their ability to reduce recidvism.

Keywords: Media Advocacy, Correctional Institutions

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have both completed my psychiatric residency as well as a certificate program in documentary filmmaking from George Washington University. I have presented this film and topic domestically at community-based screenings, film festivals, and academic settings as well as internationally at conferences.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

See more of: US Film Festival Session 1
See more of: APHA-Film Festival