There are many reasons to believe that today's army of released prisoners poses even more danger and faces even worse prospects than the smaller cohorts of the past. Ex-cons spend more time in prison than they used to. Longer sentences, contends the Urban Institute's Travis, weaken the social and economic ties that may shield prisoners when they return to society. Prisons do less now to prepare inmates for life outside. Vocational and educational programs have been cut and inmate participation in them has dropped.
Drug treatment is even scarcer than it used to be.
Though the proportion of inmates with drug problems has remained steady, the percentage receiving treatment plunged from 25 percent in 1990 to only 10 percent in 1997. States have also gutted parole. More than 100,000 prisoners were released unsupervised last year. Researchers suspect that unsupervised releasees have harsher re-entries than those on parole. Other transitional institutions, such as halfway houses, have also weakened.