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This page is an AI-assisted Turkish summary of the study presented at the 26th World Congress of Psychiatry. The study belongs to the presenting authors; please refer to the original source when citing it.

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Community reintegration support for older offenders: social workers’ perspectives

REINTEGRATION SUPPORT FOR ELDERLY OFFENDERS: PERSPECTIVES OF SOCIAL WORKERS

Social workers view support for older offenders not as a matter of directly preventing crime, but as helping them achieve long-term stability in their lives, and describe themselves as coordinators who connect clients with community resources.

The study aims to examine the shared perspectives and challenges of social workers providing community reintegration support to older prisoners, whose numbers are increasing as Japan’s population ages. Unstable living conditions and social isolation are common after release and can lead to reoffending, highlighting the need for a welfare-based approach alongside criminal justice measures. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with five social workers supporting older offenders, covering support practices, key priorities, challenges, and collaboration with community services; common themes were identified from the data. The findings indicate that social workers see their primary goal not as directly preventing reoffending, but as stabilizing clients’ daily lives, regarding reduced reoffending as a natural outcome. Because most clients have experienced long-term poverty and isolation, meaningful change requires sustained, long-term attention, and building trust through attentive listening is considered fundamental. Difficulty finding housing stands out among the barriers to resettlement after release and sometimes leads to reincarceration; many clients present with complex needs, including dementia, intellectual disability, and substance dependence. While highlighting institutional constraints on information sharing with correctional facilities, social workers emphasize their role in connecting clients with community welfare and healthcare resources. The authors recommend developing stronger community support systems for older offenders and improving collaboration between welfare and criminal justice agencies.

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