Anticipated Social Support Networks of Incarcerated Men Preparing for Reentry: Resource Diversity, Network Density, and Individual-Level Correlates

Social support is a powerful organizing concept in in our understanding of health, well-being, and overall positive outcomes across the life-course. As such, social support is routinely applied to the prisoner reentry context to explain the post-release outcomes of formerly incarcerated individuals. Yet, there is very little is known about what social support looks like. This is partially because past research has yet to incorporate the innovations in measurement from network science to the study of social support during reentry to understand the resources and relational structure of social support and how these influence reentry outcomes. Rooted in the methodological advancements of social capital research, this dissertation measured the ego-centric anticipated social support networks of 85 men preparing for release from prison. The first empirical chapter of this dissertation begins by describing the resources available to individuals preparing for release and by whom. Next, potential correlates of network structure, specifically network density, are explored. The final empirical chapter examines the role of network structure in moderating the role of resource availability on individual outcomes such as health, flourishing, and the use of prosocial or maladaptive coping skills. Findings demonstrate that the relationship among these variables is complex and that further empirical investigation is warranted. The implication of these findings for policy and practice, and this approach more broadly, are also discussed at length.