Promoting Prison Reform through Collaborative Research: A Case Study in Chile.
Prison systems in Latin America currently present various problems that include severe overcrowding, high levels of violence, scarce access to reintegration programs, and high recidivism, among others. In this precarious context, the effective reintegration of incarcerated people becomes very proble...
| Published in: | Social Work Vol. 71; no. 3; pp. 229 - 237 |
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| Main Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Article |
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Oxford University Press / USA
Jul2026
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=194970797&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 194970797 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00378046 SWR jtl: Social Work issn: 00378046 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Jul2026 vid: 71 iid: 3 pid: 622 pub: Oxford University Press / USA artinfo: ui: 194970797 10.1093/sw/swag030 ppf: 229 ppct: 8 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 659KB tig: atl: Promoting Prison Reform through Collaborative Research: A Case Study in Chile. aug: au: Sanhueza, Guillermo Bunnell, Mark Zúñiga, Liza affil: Guillermo Sanhueza, PhD, is associate professor, School of Social Work, Loyola University Chicago, 1 East Pearson Street, Chicago, IL 60611, USA Mark Bunnell, MSW, is a research assistant, School of Social Work, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA Liza Zúñiga, PhD, is a doctoral candidate, interdisciplinary program in social sciences, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile su: Latin America Correctional institutions Imprisonment Interprofessional relations Mental health Rehabilitation Interviewing Recidivism Crowds Social work research Correctional personnel Motivation (Psychology) Criminal justice system Medical screening Employees' workload Independent living Questionnaires Research methodology sug: subj: Correctional institutions Imprisonment Interprofessional relations Mental health Rehabilitation Interviewing Recidivism Crowds Social work research Correctional personnel Motivation (Psychology) Criminal justice system Medical screening Employees' workload Latin America Correctional Institutions Provincial correctional services Federal correctional services Other Residential Care Facilities Other Justice, Public Order, and Safety Activities All Other Miscellaneous Ambulatory Health Care Services Offices of Mental Health Practitioners (except Physicians) Other Individual and Family Services Independent living Questionnaires Research methodology keyword: Chile copyrightHolder:National Association of Social Workers copyrightYear:2026 data https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/sw/swag030 inLanguage:en prison reform publisher:Oxford University Press recidivism reintegration sameAs:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42143688/ Chile copyrightHolder:National Association of Social Workers copyrightYear:2026 data https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/sw/swag030 inLanguage:en prison reform publisher:Oxford University Press recidivism reintegration sameAs:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42143688/ ab: Prison systems in Latin America currently present various problems that include severe overcrowding, high levels of violence, scarce access to reintegration programs, and high recidivism, among others. In this precarious context, the effective reintegration of incarcerated people becomes very problematic and unlikely since, upon leaving prison, people face various barriers that are combined with a series of accumulated disadvantages that were amplified by the experience of incarceration. However, a somewhat forgotten prerequisite for effective reintegration processes is the development of evidence-based policies that rely on good data at different levels of the criminal justice chain. To address this problem, the research team partnered with the Chilean prison service in Chile and gathered data on various indicators that were relevant for prison life and rehabilitation, creating an integrated visualization prototype. Thus, this article summarizes the design, implementation process, and main results of this collaborative initiative carried out between 2022 and 2023, including various examples of the displayed prototype. A mixed-methods approach was used, which combined the use of surveys and administrative data, with more than 110 qualitative interviews, along with geocoded material and an analysis of the prison-related normative context. Both the prototype of integrated visualization and the various research products derived from this project are generating useful information for prison administrators and decision makers to enhance the chances for better reintegration of incarcerated people in Chile. Finally, possibilities and limitations of this case study are discussed considering the U.S. context and the Smart Decarceration Initiative. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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