The purpose of the current study was to investigate the relationship between moral development, readiness to change, and experience with racism among African-American male reentry offenders within a substance abuse assessment center. In addition, differences among parolees, probationers, and pretrial offenders were explored, and substance preference and marital status were examined in relationship to readiness to change. Predictive variables for readiness to change were also explored. The sample consisted of 110 African-American male reentry offenders in a substance abuse assessment center. Participants were administered the Defining Issues Test 2 (DIT2), the University of Rhode Island Change Assessment (URICA), and the Racism and Life Experiences Scale – Brief (RaLES-B). A number of the sample of residents (n = 33) participated in focus group discussions to add personal voice to their experiences.

Pearson product moment correlation, multiple analyses of variance, and stepwise multiple regression were employed to test research hypotheses. The findings revealed a correlation between moral development and readiness to change, but no significant difference between probationers and parolees on moral development, readiness to change, or experience with racism. Marijuana users and single residents scored lowest on the readiness to change measure. Moral development and age were significant predictors of readiness to change. Substance abuse length was significantly correlated with experience with racism. Residents discussed unequal access, self-reflection, external influence, burdens, and institutional prejudice. Future research should explore the comorbid disorders found in the reentry population, examine racial and gender differences, evaluate pre-and post-efficiency measures for reentry treatment programs, consider cultural bias in assessment, and develop longitudinal designs for following offenders' reentry to society.