What Does Migration Have to Do with Rehabilitation, Reentry, and Reintegration?

Abstract

Examining the experiences of two very different populations that went through two islands in New York, one is Ellis Island and the other is Rikers Island, one cannot stop to wonder how different the two are when examining the integration and assimilation process of the individuals who went through them. How different are the processes that the two groups undergo during their efforts to assimilate into the normative civil community? Or are they? This chapter explores the premise that the experience of immigrants bears interesting similarities to those of released offenders, in terms of their integration/assimilation challenges and struggles, and uses some successful migration models to examine offender integration solutions similar to absorption, acculturation, and assimilation strategies that are used to solve migration challenges. It is possible to argue that the two integration scenarios tend to be similar in terms of experiences and expectations, but with different players and different adaptation solutions.