ABSTRACT

The sociodemographic backgrounds of inmates are essential for understanding their prison experiences and the extent to which they cope with incarceration and recidivate upon release. The notion that military veterans might fare differently from other groups in the correctional system has existed for decades; yet scholars have only recently begun to focus on the effects that prior service has on metrics of prison adjustment and beyond. Increased emphasis on the prison experiences of military veterans necessitates a review of the studies published to date. In the current study, we take stock of the empirical research conducted on incarcerated veterans by systematically reviewing all articles published online between 2000 and 2022. Overall, we find little evidence to support the view that veteran status confers any specific benefits or vulnerabilities during incarceration or following release. However, given the limitations of the studies reviewed, we address several methodological concerns regarding the study of former service members and provide directions for future research.

摘要

囚犯的社会人口背景对于了解他们的监狱经历以及他们应对监禁和释放后再犯的程度至关重要。几十年来，退伍军人在教养系统中的表现可能与其他群体不同。然而，学者们直到最近才开始关注先前服役对监狱调整及其他指标的影响。由于越来越重视退伍军人的监狱经历，因此有必要对迄今为止发表的研究进行审查。在当前的研究中，我们通过系统地回顾 2000 年至 2022 年期间在线发表的所有文章来评估对被监禁的退伍军人进行的实证研究。总的来说，我们发现几乎没有证据支持这样的观点，即退伍军人身份在监禁期间或释放后会带来任何特定的好处或弱点。然而，鉴于所审查研究的局限性，我们解决了关于前服务成员研究的几个方法论问题，并为未来的研究提供了方向。