“He Came Out, and He Did This”: Hope Among Formerly Incarcerated Black Men

Vollständiger Abstract

Worum geht es in dieser Arbeit?

Hope is central to the development of a strengths-based approach to understanding the lived experiences of formerly incarcerated Black men, given that the disproportionate and negative impact of the criminal legal system appears to overshadow the possibilities during reentry. Through qualitative interviews, we explored formerly incarcerated Black men’s conceptualization of hope using an abductive approach and thematic analysis. Moving between Snyder’s positive psychology model of hope and the psychology of radical hope framework in the 16 interviews, we identified three main themes and seven sub-themes. The three main themes were consistent with Snyder’s conceptualization of hope ( Goals , Self-Determination Processes , and Pathways ), three of the seven sub-themes were similar to aspects in Mosley et al.’s psychology of radical hope framework ( A Better Collective Future , Faith , and Meaning & Purpose ), and four sub-themes describe new pathways to hope and extend both the traditional and radical hope frameworks ( Awakening/Epiphany/Encounter , Community/Social Support , Personal Growth , and HEAL-th ). Limitations of these findings are discussed and implications for future research and practice are discussed.