Impact of Concentrated Re-entry and Katrina as a Natural Experiment - Interview With Dr. David Kirk

• NCJ Number: 236840
• Author(s): David Kirk
• Date Published: October 2011
• Length: 2 pages
• Agencies: NIJ
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical); Interview

Annotation

This video and its transcript cover an interview with David Kirk at the National Institute of Justice's (NIJ's) Research for the Real World Seminar Series, following a presentation on his research in which he examined the recidivism rate for former prisoners who had to relocate to other communities when Katrina destroyed their former residences in the New Orleans area.

Abstract

His research compared the recidivism rate of former inmates who were released from prison prior to Hurricane Katrina with those who had to relocate after being released from incarceration following Katrina. The study found that those individuals who moved away from their former residences were much less likely than the pre-Katrina group to be sent back to prison within 3 years. Kirk questions the wisdom of the policy of many States that requires parolees to go back to the county where they lived when they were either convicted or committed their crime. Louisiana is an exception in not having this requirement. Kirk suggests that parole residency restrictions be more flexible, given that some parolees may have better outcomes in a new community with an environment more conducive to change in their criminal behavior than their former residence location.