Understanding the Unique Experiences of Juvenile Lifers in Navigating Relationships After Prison: Trauma and Posttraumatic Growth

Until the 2012 decision in Miller v. Alabama, youth under the age of 18 were mandatorily sentenced to death by incarceration for certain acts in 45 states. Adolescence is understood to be an impressionable period for the development of relationship and socialization skills. While a breadth of research has explored the impact of social ties on the experiences and outcomes of incarcerated adults, less research has examined the impact of relationships for those incarcerated in adult prisons as youths. Following the landmark Montgomery v. Louisiana case, hundreds of individuals originally sentenced as youth to die in prison were released and had to navigate a society and community vastly different from the one they left in their adolescence. The current study explores the impact of long-term incarceration on an individual's ability to navigate relationships with others during and after incarceration. A case study of five re-entered Black men shows how sharing traumatic experiences throughout incarceration forged deep bonds amongst "juvenile lifers" that extend beyond the prison setting and facilitated individual-level posttraumatic growth. Findings suggest revisions to the parole stipulation prohibiting engagement amongst those with felony convictions.