Home is Where You Are, Returning Home from Prison

This is Where You Belong Guest: Melody Warnick, author of “This is Where You Belong: The Art and Science of Loving the Place You Live” How many cities have you lived in? The average American will move at least 11 times in their lifetime. I’ve got 8 under my belt so far. Do you dread moving, or are you a little addicted to it? There’s a thrill to arriving in a totally new place, with new people, new opportunities, and things to discover. Then the honeymoon ends and are you, like Dorothy, dreaming of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow?”  And until you find that place, you’re stuck with cities or towns not quite the right fit, never deserving your complete devotion. Returning Home: Reintegration After Prison or Jail Guest: Stephen Bahr, PhD, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, BYU, author of “Returning Home: Reintegration after Prison or Jail” The United States locks people up at a higher rate than any other country. We have less than five percent of the world’s population, but the people behind bars in the US make up almost a quarter of the world’s total prison population. The reasons for our high incarceration rate are complex – and we’ll touch on them a bit this hour. But the real focus of our discussion is what happens when those inmates return to society? The number of released inmates is growing quickly, thanks to bipartisan efforts at reforming the justice and prison system. Almost half will end up back behind bars before long.