Individuals reentering the community after prison can face a host of complex challenges. Social support appears to be an important factor in helping recently released men and women by promoting adjustment and success in multiple areas of life. However, social support during the reentry is not well understood in terms of what types of support help individuals, who can best provide this support, how certain aspects of social support might be harmful, and pathways through which support helps individuals. This qualitative study explores four common types of social support that have been identified in the research literature: emotional, instrumental, informational, and companionship. In-depth interviews with 26 adults recently released from prison found variation in the type of support received, the source of the support (primary or secondary groups), and whether the support was primarily positive, negative or harmful, or absent. Exploratory findings surfaced around seven potential pathways through which social support might help individuals who are reentering the community. Suggestions are made for the future work of practitioners and researchers during the reentry period.

入狱后重新进入社区的个人可能会面临许多复杂的挑战。社会支持似乎是通过促进生活的多个领域的调整和成功来帮助新近释放的男女的重要因素。但是，对于折返期间的社会支持，人们对哪种类型的支持可以帮助个人，谁可以最好地提供这种支持，社会支持的某些方面可能有害以及支持通过何种方式帮助个人的理解还不够。这项定性研究探讨了研究文献中确定的四种常见的社会支持类型：情感，工具，信息和陪伴。对最近从监狱释放的26位成年人进行的深入采访发现，所获得的支持类型，支持的来源（主要或次要群体），以及支持是主要是正面的，负面的还是有害的或不存在的。探索性发现围绕着七个潜在途径浮出水面，社会支持可以通过这些途径帮助重新进入社区的个人。对再入期间从业者和研究人员的未来工作提出了建议。