In the era of mass incarceration, over 600,000 people are released from federal or state prison each year, with many returning to chaotic and sometimes violent living environments. In these circumstances, how do formerly-incarcerated men and women navigate reentering society?

In Homeward, sociologist Bruce Western examines the first year after release from prison. Drawing from hundreds of interviews with over one hundred individuals returning to neighborhoods around Boston, he describes the lives of the formerly incarcerated and demonstrates how poverty, racial inequality, and failures of social support trap many in a cycle of vulnerability despite their efforts to rejoin society.