Correctional education research strongly suggests that an increase in inmates’ education will reduce recidivism rates. This study utilized logistic regression techniques to investigate the effects of prison education program participation on recidivism and employment rates. Using this method made it possible to conclude that inmates who participated in prison intervention/educational programs were significantly less likely to recidivate. The purpose of this study was to identify to what extent the Mississippi Department of Corrections’ (MDOC’s) intervention/educational programs reduce recidivism. The pre-existing data used were historical information collected as part of a longitudinal study on Mississippi inmates since 2000. The data were transferred every quarter to the National Strategic Planning and Analysis Research Center (nSPARC) for management and analysis. Initial tests found that several variables had a relationship with recidivism. The findings in this study suggest that ex-offenders who completed an education/vocational program or completed a counseling program were 87% (p < 0.001), 9.9% (p < 0.005), respectively, less likely to recidivate than those ex-offenders who did not participate in any type of education or intervention program. The results also suggest that ex-offenders who enrolled in but did not complete an education/vocational program were l0% (p<0.005) less likely to recidivate than those ex-offenders who did not participate in any type of education or intervention program. Recommendations that result from these findings include an increase in the number and quality of intervention/educational programs in Mississippi prisons. Policies could be suggested and/or implemented that would reduce the number of people who violate the law upon their re-entry into society.

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The Swedish society is characterized by an increasingly extensive criminality. Research shows that the possibility of earning a living through work is something that reduces the risk of committing criminal acts, but despite this, there are difficulties for ex-criminals regarding the possibility of obtaining a job. The purpose of the study is to increase understanding of the work with ex-criminals' transition from crime to employment and how a career guidance counselor can respond to the target group in a beneficial way. The study aims to answer which factors in ex-criminals' transition from crime to employment may be beneficial for career guidance counselors to know, as well as how career guidance counselors with knowledge of these factors can promote ex-criminals' transition. In order to investigate ex-criminals' transition from crime to employment, we have chosen to use a qualitative method with semi-structured interviews. The selection consists of six professionals who work with ex-criminals in various ways. The results of the study show that ex-criminals' low self-esteem and insecurities regarding managing a job on the regular labor market are central factors in the transition from crime to employment. For career guidance counselors, a significant part of the work with ex-criminals involves increasing their motivation to achieve the goal of a job. It is about building up the individuals' self-esteem and countering their insecurities.

To decrease the steady rise in the prison population, we must deter ex-offenders from re-offending and recidivating, once they have been released. For ex-offenders, finding employment is critical to successful post-release re-integration which can help reduce the chances of them recidivating. Ex-offenders who are consistent in their employment patterns are less likely to return to a life of crime. This study investigated the relative importance and significance of 11 selected variables on four separate levels of employment consistency. The selected variables were chosen based on what has been identified in the literature as effecting employment patterns of ex-offenders and the general population, and what data was reliable and available. The study group consisted of 2,314 male Virginia ex-offenders released in fiscal year 2001. The results revealed that the variables of time served, career and technical education program completions, educational level, age at release, race, and being convicted of a violent offense were positive predictors of employment consistency. On the other hand, having a record of minor infractions and being a repeat offender were associated with decreasing employment consistency in the analysis. The findings of the study suggest that it is important for offenders to make changes in the ways they think and their attitudes. This can be accomplished by taking advantage of opportunities in prison to participate in rehabilitative services and educational programs. In addition, as offenders get older they tend to abandon criminal ways of thinking, and once released they are more apt to stay employed. Furthermore, the influence of the race variable did not affect the study group of ex-offenders as anticipated. / Ph. D.

This thesis explores the nature of service learning projects that are structured to make interventions in rhetorical spheres and seek to achieve social change on a smaller scale rather striving for grander, or even systemic, change. In structuring community projects that include inherently limited interventions and equally limited goals, I argue that such projects should be open to immediate adjustments within themselves –to abandon any particular form or goal—to satisfy the immediate needs of the individuals served. I draw upon my work with a reintegration program for ex-offenders in Richmond, Virginia called Working with Conviction to help demonstrate that service learning constituents who create community projects need to be acutely attuned to the temporal and spatial constraints of any project, the ideological commitments of the relevant community, and the various locations of agency that can be affirmed and explored regarding the individuals served.

The United States has a serious epidemic of mass incarceration and high recidivism rates. The U. S. must act on these high recidivism rates by implementing social services programs that help the formerly incarcerated stop committing crimes. The formerly incarcerated are being oppressed by a historic process that has continued to incarcerate and control them, even after they had served their time for their crimes. This project attempts to assist in reducing the high recidivism rates by creating an education-based transitional housing facility with a plethora of supportive services that will be open to formerly incarcerated individuals. This project sheds light on some of the problems that continue to plague this demographic group of people, while providing a possible solution to help reduce recidivism. The outcome of this project is a business plan that explains a procedure to help create a non-profit transitional housing facility that will be located in Palm Springs, CA. The steps of building this non-profit business are detailed in an implementation plan following this manuscript.

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No / Ex-offenders re-enter their communities with limited pre-release preparation for the continuity of access to health care once outside prison. Once released, these individuals become hard to reach, do not consider health a priority and consequently use services to address their health and social care needs in a crisis-led way. Nevertheless, how nurses can best support these health-excluded group of individuals in the community remains vague and requires discussion. It is argued that current dominant discourses around equity of care are contradicted in the provision of health and social care services to ex-offenders in the community. Effective engagement with community interventions may be achieved if ex-offenders maintain contact with frontline providers who can support both their structural and health needs. Nurses are uniquely positioned to initiate and sustain contact with ex-offenders, intervening at points of greatest need in the community to address the socially significant health and social care issues that plague them. The use of nurses in the provision of health and social care interventions to ex-offenders is a strategy, which could increase equity in access to health care, reduce reoffending and improve both the health and life chances of these individuals.

Recidivism rates among ex-offender populations have consistently remained high. With over 600,000 ex-offenders being released from prison each year, reducing the rate of recidivism among the ex-offender class has become a highly debated issue. Ensuring ex-offenders successfully reintegrate into the community post-incarceration may help to reduce recidivism rates. Through a qualitative thematic analysis, this study examined various policies and program that may impact recidivism rates among ex-offenders. The policies and programs reviewed in this study were categorized among six main themes which were identified in prior literature as the most crucial elements needed for successful reintegration. The findings indicate that while many policy changes have been made to positively impact ex-offender reintegration by allowing initial access to services post-release from prison, more should be done to ensure ex-offenders actually receive needed services.