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305948
"The stress will kill you": Prisoner reentry as experienced by family members and the urgent need for support services
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
: 9:10 AM - 9:30 AM
Suzanne Grieb, PhD, MSPH
,
Center for Child and Community Health Research, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
Horace Smith
,
Group Ministries, Baltimore, MD
Julie Fields
,
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD
Richard Harris
,
Group Ministries, Baltimore, MD
Pamela Matson, PhD, MPH
,
Center for Child and Community Health Research, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
The role of incarceration and community reentry has been studied extensively for individual and community health; however, little attention has been given to the experiences of individuals who provide support to those in reentry. Through a photovoice project with men in reentry, partners at GROUP Ministries and the Johns Hopkins University recognized a need to expand services to family members of those previously incarcerated. To explore community experiences and perspectives regarding providing support during a family member’s reentry, explore the support available to them as supporters, and identify any desired support for themselves during this time, the partners conducted seven focus groups with 39 individuals supporting a family member in reentry in the summer of 2012. Focus groups were audio-recorded, and transcripts were analyzed through a modified thematic constant comparison approach. Five themes emerged under a metatheme of stress, demonstrating ways that family members experience acute stress as a result of family reentry. Participants understood the relationship between stress and health, but many lacked skills to cope with acute stress. Participants were unaware of support programs directed at family members during an individual’s reentry, but desired programs to successfully help them through this process. Programs that acknowledge the difficult role of family members as supporters during an individual’s reentry and provide support to them are thus desperately needed. As a result of these findings, the community-academic partnership was expanded, and a Family Support Program was developed.
Learning Areas:
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Program planning
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences
Learning Objectives:
Discuss the sources of acute stress faced by individuals providing support to a family member in reentry from a period of incarceration.
Identify programmatic needs to support individuals aiding a family member in reentry from a period of incarceration.
Keyword(s): Community-Based Research (CBPR), Community Health Programs
Presenting author's disclosure statement:Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a medical anthropologist with extensive training in public health and Kellogg Scholar (John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health 2010-2012) who has partnered with GROUP Ministries for approximately 3 years. I was involved in the research question, study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, and subsequent program development.
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.
