Post-Release Financial Behavioral Intentions of Transitional Center Participants

There are numerous factors associated with successful reentry, but one that has not yet been addressed is financial behavior after release. This study used a primary data set collected in the fall of 2017. The theory of planned behavior was applied to investigate post-release financial behavioral intentions of men and women approaching return to society via a work release program in Georgia. Support for the theory of planned behavior was identified; attitude, subjective norms, and perceptions of behavioral control are significant predictors of financial intentions for this sample. Length of incarceration was the most important aspect of incarceration history. Innovative use of a control variable indicated that socially desirable response patterns about key variables were not confounding. This research is valuable to practitioners and policy makers in that it provides insight into planned financial behaviors that could affect the success of the individual's reentry back into society, and it fortifies prior evidence that the theory of planned behavior is a useful analytical framework.