Incarceration Length and Housing Prospects in the Netherlands: A Dose-Response Analysis
摘要
Having adequate housing is integral for reentry success and reduced recidivism after release from prison. While it is clear that incarcerated people experience numerous problems in maintaining housing, and that many individuals are homeless after release, we know little about the extent in which housing conditions are impacted by the length of time individuals stay in a jail or prison. This study aims to bridge this gap by investigating the dose-response relationship between incarceration length and a variety of housing outcomes in the Netherlands. Using a comprehensive array of pre-incarceration covariates on multiple life domains from Statistics Netherlands, propensity score stratification is used to examine the dose–response relationship between incarceration length and whether individuals have a place to live after release, whether they are living with others, the quality of the neighborhoods they are living in, and the stability of their housing situation up to one year after release. Data are used from individuals released in 2017, 2018 and 2019 after their first incarceration in a Dutch jail or prison (N = 18,884). Our findings suggest that length of incarceration (up to two years) does not have relevant effects on finding a place to live within the first year after release nor housing quality. However, the stability of housing conditions seem to be worse for individuals who had longer stays in jails or prison. Results underscore the disruptive effects of incarceration and by focusing on housing outcomes, this study contributes to the growing line of work that shows how incarceration impacts reintegration through multiple life domains.