One should not be punished for the same mistake twice. Yet, that is the fate which befalls many former prison inmates who serve out their sentences only to find themselves shunned economically by society upon their release. And when they do not win re-entry to society, there will be those among the group tempted to return to their old ways.

There are several schemes to break that vicious circle by rehabilitating former offenders socially. The Yellow Ribbon Project, for example, seeks to engage the community at large in giving them another chance at life so that they are not consigned to the second prison of social rejection.