Vapautuneiden vankien asunnottomuus: kehitys, taustatekijät ja yhteys uusintarikollisuuteen
Avainsanat:
asunnottomuus, huono-osaisuus, uusintarikollisuus, riskitekijät, rekisteritutkimusAbstrakti
Homelessness among released prisoners: Trends, risk factors and association with recidivism
Prior research shows that prisoners comprise a socially disadvantaged group, and that their risk of homelessness is high compared to the general population. There is, however, little quantitative empirical research focusing specifically on homelessness among released prisoners in Finland. In this article, the authors use register-based data on all Finnish prisoners released from prison between 2000–2015, to provide new information on trends of homelessness and factors associated with homelessness, as well as to examine if homelessness at the time of release is associated with a higher risk of recidivism. The authors use two measures of homelessness: One is based on data from the Population Information System, the other on data collected by the Criminal Sanctions Agency prior to release. The results show that end-of-year homelessness rates have been stable during 2000–2015, the average being around 27 per cent. Homelessness rates are highest among prisoners residing in the Uusimaa region. Young age, male gender, a high number of prior prison sentences and being outside the labour force are factors associated with a higher risk of homelessness, whereas homelessness is associated with a higher risk of recidivism even after controlling for these factors. Although the causal effect of homelessness on recidivism remains uncertain and difficult to study with observational research designs, it is evident that housing of released prisoners is a crucial question in terms of both social and criminal policy.
