Is community reintegration possible?

A big part of reintegrating into the community requires the community to accept an individual.  However, there are a number of barriers that make this much more difficult to achieve. 
The desisters I’ve spoken with have highlighted that although they have undertaken big changes in their lives, they are not being accepted by their communities.  This has been highlighted in the difficulties in finding employment when the potential employer is told about the offending, having difficulties in moving away from the negative perceptions of others, not meeting the criteria of support services due their previous behaviours etc.  It seems that despite completing the necessary courses, gaining qualifications and making significant changes, one of the biggest barriers are those put in place by the community and those around them.

The difficulties caused by preventing reintegration or acceptance are that it can reinforce the negative feelings that an individual is trying to move away from.  It would seem that the implications of this are that despite making the correct decisions, they could feel hopeless because an individual is unable to move forward.  The danger in these circumstances is that someone could give up on the desistance process.

I think that there is a responsibility that all people have to support reintegration and encourage others to do the same.  This can be achieved through recognising the efforts to change and continuing to focus on the strengths of an individual, rather then just managing risks.  Most of the desisters I’ve spoken with have identified that the recognition of the positive progress, especially by those in authority positions is something that has motivated them.  The recognition by authority figures has been highlighted as important because it is not expected by these individuals with convictions (Maruna, 2010).

It may appear to be a small step, but the informal recognition of the efforts to desist can snowball and contribute to other workers also recognising the efforts to change.  The benefits of this are that there could be a movement, albeit slowly, in communities to be more accepting and supportive of reintegration.