Date of Award

12-1-2023

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

College/School/Department

School of Criminal Justice

Dissertation/Thesis Chair

Justin T Pickett

Committee Members

Ronet D Bachman, Alissa P Worden, Mary E Stitt, Caroline Light

Keywords

desistance, employment, gender, intersectionality, race

Subject Categories

Criminology

Abstract

Employment is critically important to the re-entry process for most recordholders, as a standard condition of their community supervision agreement, as a turning point, and as a way to solidify new prosocial identities in the desistance process. However, seeking and maintaining gainful employment is easier for some recordholders than others. Prior research suggests that applicant race and gender impacts employment opportunities and outcomes. It is also the case that desistance may look different based on the race and gender of the recordholder. Thus, it may be the case that the relationship between desistance and employment varies for recordholders of different races and genders. This research aims to illuminate intersectional differences in the relationship between employment and desistance in order to better understand the employment challenges women and people of color face when re-entering the community. To examine intersectional differences in the desistance-employment nexus, I use qualitative methods to analyze interview transcripts of a diverse sample of recordholders in the ROADS I data, part of the seven-wave longitudinal ROADS dataset (N = 1,247). ROADS is the largest and longest proscriptive desistance study of a diverse contemporary sample of serious drug-involved offenders released from prison in the state of Delaware in the 1990s. Findings inform policy decisions as policy makers consider how best to support recordholders of different races and genders in the desistance process and their quest for employment.

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