More than 620,000 individuals are released from prison annually in the United States (Looney & Turner, 2018). Studies suggest that criminal record imposes an impediment to employment, which leads to economic disparities. Also, lack of employment after release leads to approximately one-third of these individuals going back to prison at some point. The negative effect of incarceration on employment is especially true for the high-risk population of blacks and Hispanics. Although other factors such as race, ethnicity, and sex contribute to the few employment prospects for ex-felons, the lack of experience and information on the basic job skills such as computer knowledge and exposure to the job interview process has been associated with the difficulties of re-entry into the job market for the incarcerated individuals (Wells, 2014). Although the government has put up tax incentives for employers, who employ ex-felons, the level of unemployment among this group remains high (Looney & Turner, 2018). The primary hypothesis for the research is that the training and preparation of inmates for post-prison employment will help to increase the rate of employment for these individuals.
A number of researches have been done to investigate the effect of incarceration on an inmate’s future employment opportunities. Wells (2014) examines the extent of the impact of prison time on the employability of inmates based on their race, ethnicity, and gender. In the study, Wells (2014) notices that there was no significant difference in the impact of prison time on inmates’ success in advancing through the hiring process across various races and ethnic groups. According to Wells (2014), the lack of basic job skills due to inadequate training and preparation before release affected an inmate’s success of being integrated into the job market. Elsewhere, Fitzgerald et al. (2013) analyze the effectiveness of the OPTIONS program to improve the outcome on parameters relevant to inmates’ job preparation. OPTIONS program entails five 2-hour sessions hosted by a trained facilitator. The program used five intervention components including written exercises, information about the world of work, individualized assessment and feedback, strategies for finding employment support, and role modeling (Fitzgerald et al., 2013). The study reported higher perceived problem-solving ability and hopefulness among inmates which increased their rate of job search. According to the abovementioned literature, training programs and preparation of inmates for post-prison employment help enhance their knowledge and skill development which improves their employability.
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Although numerous studies have been conducted to investigate the effect of a prior criminal record on chances of employment, little has been done to determine the effectiveness of training and preparation programs for inmates’ integration into the community. Therefore, existing literature only points out the effect of prison record on a person’s chance of employment without testing the viability of the possible programs that prison administrators can use to prepare inmates for the job market (Looney, 2018). Although Fitzgerald (2013) analyzes the effectiveness of the OPTIONS program, the program is adopted from the ACCESS program, which was meant for the domestic violence survivor. Therefore, the program may not be applicable to the inmates. Therefore, the current study hopes to a number of variables that are essential to increase an inmate’s level of employability and then suggest a program to disseminate the skills to these ex-felons.
For decades, preparing inmates for employment once released from prison has been an issue in the United States. The current programs used by prison administrators to train inmates are not viable. The current study will conduct a comprehensive study by reviewing existing literature to evaluate the viability of the existing programs used to prepare inmates for the job market. More specifically, the study will review both qualitative and quantitative studies on the effects of prison-based programs. From the reviews, the study will determine the best program prison administrators can use to prepare inmates for employment.
The objective of the study is to come up with the suggestion of plans that can be applied by various institutions to help reduce the economic disparities between individuals with and those without criminal records. Therefore, the results of this study will be important to the U.S. Department of Justice since the study will help guide some of the policy considerations to help improve the current situation (Jonson & Cullen, 2015). Also, prison administrators will be interested in learning effective programs to help support inmates as they get integrated back into the community.
References
Fitzgerald, E. L., Chronister, K. M., Forrest, L., & Brown, L. (2013). OPTIONS for preparing inmates for community reentry: An employment preparation intervention. The Counseling Psychologist , 41 (7), 990-1010. DOI: 10.1177/0011000012462367.
Jonson, C. L., & Cullen, F. T. (2015). Prisoner reentry programs. Crime and justice , 44 (1), 517-575. DOI: 10.1086/681554.
Looney, A., & Turner, N. (2018). Work and opportunity before and after incarceration. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution. [Online]. Retrieved from: https://www.brookings.edu/research/work-and-opportunity-before-and-after-incarceration/ . Accessed October 5, 2019.
Wells, D., National Institute of Justice (NIJ), US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, & United States of America. (2014). Training and preparing inmates for post-prison employment. Corrections Today , 76 (6), 18-19. [Online]. Retrieved from: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/248574.pdf . Accessed October 5, 2019.
