Employment Pathways: How Former Offenders Navigate to Employment

Authors

Breanne Pleggenkuhle, Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Alaina Bearsby Steele, Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Elle Gray Teshima, Southern Illinois University Carbondale

Abstract

"Employment is one of the most critical dimensions of reintegration, and much research documents the barriers formerly incarcerated persons experience in seeking out steady work. However, most offenders are ultimately successful in obtaining some form of employment. Less research discusses how offenders manage these barriers or examines the practice by which offenders navigate employment pathways, and even less examines whether particular offense categories further challenge the process. The current research utilizes qualitative data to examine the methods by which ex-offenders seek out and obtain employment, with an emphasis on the function of self-motivating practices, access to services, and the utilization of social capital. The analysis further differentiates between sex offenders and non-sex offenders in these experiences. Our findings suggest ex-offenders rely on many types of resources in seeking out employment, and that these differ by offense type, but underlying motivation and persistence are key components in their search. Understanding these methods is important, as a comprehensive understanding of successful navigation to employment can inform policy in relation to improved guidance on advising employment searches."

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

Pleggenkuhle, Breanne; Steele, Alaina Bearsby; and Teshima, Elle Gray (2017) "Employment Pathways: How Former Offenders Navigate to Employment," Qualitative Criminology (QC): Vol. 5: No. 2, Article 3.
Available at: https://dc.swosu.edu/qc/vol5/iss2/3