Listen to Part 5: "Free at Last?"
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Listen to Follow-up conversations
 Listen to the experiences of an ex-convict named John who spent most of his life in and out of prison.

 Listen to a conversation with a pastor from Dorchester who works with former inmates and a Boston area criminologist who once worked as a researcher with the Massachusetts Department of Correction.

This year, close to 600,000 convicted felons will be released from state and federal prisons across the US. More than 40 percent of them will be back behind bars within three years. The recidivism rate in Massachusetts is even higher.

For tens of thousands of people, prison is indeed a way of life, a place they can leave but never fully escape.

In Part 5 of our series, "The Price of Punishment”, producer Jennifer Schmidt looks at the process of leaving prison and why it’s so hard for people to get out and stay out.

Lawmakers Investigating Alleged Prisoner Mistreatment - a WBUR report WBUR Investigates Allegations of Abuse of Prisoners American Community Corrections Institute The Baker House Criminal Justice Policy Coalition 2000 Year End Report American Friends Service Committee Families of Prisoners Support Project