Starting anew,

Not on a clean slate.

After time is served and dues are paid, the punishment is not over. The damage that occurred during the period of imprisonment cannot be reversed and the chain of negative outcomes continue to roll out.

The family members' joy at their kin's release from prison offers a respite from the inner turmoil of enduring a difficult life situation. However that turmoil will soon rear its ugly head again when they realise that their kin's return is not going to give them the kind of life they had thought they would have if he had not turned to crime. Now that he no is no longer doing so, longer engaged in restore the life they once had nor previous life that ha kin's return life is not going to get better.

Besides the usual anxiety, frustrations and moodiness, they can exhibit behaviours such as resentment towards the kin for putting them in this predicament, hypervigilance towards the kin activities for fear of another run in with the law, shame and embarrassment regarding the kin and more.

He/she will come to navigate a world of reduced options and prejudice . Can the family be a pillar of strength or the outside world.

If there had been a deterioration in the marital or parent-child relationships, they are still present and needs to be worked on, without which spoilage will continue.

If there had been financial troubles, and they were banking on their kin's return to resume a provider's role, they are in for a rude shock. As an ex-offender, his opportunities for work is limited and he'll have to settle for a job that pays a significantly low rate. He will not be able to afford his own basic living expenses let alone sustain the family's. Instead he will have to depend on the family members and likely do so for a long time.

This is the environment the newly released kin will begin his new lease of life.

With unresolved PTSD from the prison experience, he now faces a world that is in huge contrast to the one he just left behind. It is full of sights and sounds that he hadn't noticed in the time before he was incarcerated. His personality is also different now; subdued, quiet, cautious, and will need quite some time to get back into the swing of things. At this state he is not ready to take up whatever challenges the family has had to come up against. He can only take baby steps, one day at a time.

The family members continue to manage their difficult situation, with an added duty of an additional child to care for; their newly released kin.