Preparing Ex-Inmates for Employment

Statement of the Problem 

One major challenge facing American society today is the reintegration of prisoners who leave prisons to enter into employment. There is an increased risk of recidivism due to lack of jobs and poor reintegration into the community ( Daquin, 2014 ). As a result, effective community re-entry programs are crucial in reducing recidivism and assist in the successful transition of prisoners from prison to work. With many people coming out of jail, an effective re-entry program is becoming increasingly important. 

The unprecedented incarceration and recidivism rates should be a cause for concern, though the prison system does little to help individuals from reintegrating into employment ( Daquin, 2014 ). As a result, prison re-entry program into the community is an urgent topic of growing interest. The knowledge within this area has been advancing with time, though research and empirical evidence is still inadequate. At the same time, there is a research gap in the current criminological literature on the appropriate ways of re-integrating inmates into the community after release.  

Purpose of the Study 

The purpose of this study is to determine how to integrate prisoners into work successfully based on the experience of prison ex-offenders. The research will focus on understanding the experiences of ex-inmates regarding effective re-entry system and how they managed to get jobs after release from prison. Furthermore, the study will seek to highlight the success of re-entry into the community from the opinions of ex-in-mates since there is a gap in the current criminology literature. 

Theoretical Perspective 

The study is based on the reformative theory of punishment. This theory is crucial in understanding the extent to which inmates have reformed. The reformative theory of punishment emphasizes the idea that individuals can only change through individualization ( Bailey & Garland, 2018) . It provides an approach in examining the value placed on inmate reforms after serving their term in prison. The use of the reformative theory of punishment helps in maintaining the humanistic principle, which is crucial in reducing the stigma attached to ex-inmates. The humanistic principle is vital in re-entry into the community, as it helps in providing offenders to get the skills needed to integrate and get into employment ( Bailey & Garland, 2018) . 

Research Questions 

The research questions for this study include the following: 

1. What factors do prison ex-offenders think are necessary to re-enter into the community and get into employment successfully? 

2. How do these factors as stated by the ex-offenders help in preparing inmates for jobs once they are released from prison 

Literature Review 

Several studies have been conducted on this aspect of reintegration into the community after being released from jail. A majority of studies have different conclusions regarding the effectiveness of re-entry programs into the city. Research has shown that criminogenic risk factors such as family support, drug and abuse as well as physical factors can be used to make treatment. In a majority of the studies, re-entry is defined as the process of re-integrating former offenders into the community to live a healthy life. According to Wright & Cesar (2013) , the choice of a person plays a role in maintaining legitimate behaviour once they re-enter the community. This means people have a role in determining how much they succeed in the re-entry programs. 

According to Petersilia (2003), the future of many prisoners appears bleak when they make their return to society. This is because most of them are uneducated and unskilled, and may lack reliable family support to help their integration into society. The ex-prisoners also experience added stress of stigma from criminal records that affect their chance to get employment. As such, the study concluded that prison re-entry programs rarely work to help ex-inmates. 

Daquin (2014 ) also conducted a study on this topic of community re-entry program. The findings showed that most prisoners have difficulties getting employment. According to this study, little is done to prevent prisoners from returning to crime after release. As such, the study raised concerns over whether the re-entry programs are useful to help released inmates from getting employment. 

Studies on why prisoners get into crime can also be used to understand re-entry programs since risk factor to corruption is also the same for recidivism. According to Travis and Visher (2005), getting ex-prisoners to tell their stories would help in designing re-entry programs. The study also explains the importance of getting criminogenic factors based on the participant’s experiences, which allow policymakers to improve re-entry programs. 

Research Design 

This study will be qualitative research conducted targeting males who are ex-offenders to highlight their personal stories of success. The research will involve systematic collecting and analyzing data to understand the opinions and experiences of ex-prison inmates. The design is also explorative since the study seeks to understand the underlying reasons. The strategy of design for this research will be phenomenological as it focuses on understanding the experience of participants on the topic of re-entry. The participant’s perspective will therefore be used to provide an insight into the issue by answering the research questions. The purpose of using this strategy of inquiry is to collect data from those who have experienced the phenomenon. 

Data Collection Procedures 

The data collection methods will involve using in-depth interviews with participants using a semi-structured interview. The meetings will include face-to-face and email interviews, depending on the preference of a participant in the research. The participants in this interview will provide information ranging from their demographics, experiences as well as how they 

Data Analysis Procedures 

All meetings will be transcribed and transformed from the conversation to written text to help in analysis. The transcription will be precisely done to ensure all the original voices of participants are maintained while transcribing the audio recording. Coding will also be used in data analysis to identify common themes from the interviews and organize the data. 

Validation Approaches 

Based on the research findings, the study will determine the experience of ex-inmates regarding their re-entry programs into society and how they managed to get employment. The validity of these results will be determined based on the accuracy of answers given, the sample population used in the research as well as the relation to previous studies 

Ethical Issues 

The study will look to maintain the ethical problems of research when collecting data. It entails making sure all participants provide consent to participate in the study as well as maintaining privacy and confidentiality of information. Personal information of participants will not be revealed, and the data collected will be preserved to avoid exposing it without participants’ consent. Furthermore, the study will consider issues arising from the use of interviews in data collections, such as respect of anonymity, respect of the autonomy as well as beneficence. It will also consider minimizing the risks both mentally and socially for participants 

Expected Findings 

The study intends to provide qualitative research to determine the opinion of ex-inmates regarding re-entry programs into the community. The conclusions should answer the research questions on re-entry programs into the city. The findings from this study are to show an effective program that can help prisoners get employment and be accepted as members of society. 

Timeline 

This study will take about one month to accommodate all activities and come out with the results. The time allows for conducting interviews with participants and perform data analysis. Meetings will begin after getting consent from participants to agree, and at their required schedule. Each session will take between one hour and three hours to ensure all critical data is captured. 

Proposed Budget and Resources 

The research expenses for this proposal will be minimal because participants will be interviewed from their areas of work. The central budget will involve reaching out to participants and setting up an event for conducting the research study. However, there will be no need to hire individuals for conducting the study because researchers will take the role of conducting interviews and transcribing the findings. 

References  

Bailey, V., & Garland, D. (2018). Punishment and Welfare: A History of Penal Strategies.  The American Historical Review ,  91 (4), 925. doi:10.2307/1873383 

PETERSILIA, J. (2001). Prisoner Reentry: Public Safety and Reintegration Challenges.  The Prison Journal ,  81 (3), 360-375. doi:10.1177/0032885501081003004 

Daquin, J. C. (2014). Rethinking the Reentry Paradigm: A Blueprint for Action.  International Criminal Justice Review , 073401681452264. doi:10.1177/0734016814522643 

Travis, J., & Visher, C. (2005). Introduction: Viewing public safety through the re-entry lens.  Prisoner reentry and crime in America , 1-14. 

Wright, K. A., & Cesar, G. T. (2013). Toward a More Complete Model of Offender Reintegration: Linking the Individual-, Community-, and System-Level Components of Recidivism.  Victims & Offenders ,  8 (4), 373-398. doi:10.1080/15564886.2013.803004