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Abstract
The study assessed the effectiveness of the Preparing Inmates for Re-Entry through Assistance, Training, and Employment Skills (PIRATES) group, which focused on improving dysfunctional career thoughts. Participants were male offenders (n = 14) enrolled in a re-entry training class. Results showed a statistically significant decrease in participants' negative career thinking across all group participants.
Examining and improving the negative career thoughts in offenders is an underdeveloped practice in vocational programs in corrections. Effective career development interventions, such as classes and groups, are often absent in corrections settings and can positively impact future job success. Ex-offenders' ability to find and maintain employment is an important concern for both offenders and society because it can be the key to not returning to prison.
Offender Recidivism and Employment
Research on offender recidivism and employment is important because of the growing number of incarcerated individuals. For the first time in history more than one in every 100 adults in America is in jail or prison (Pew Report, 2008). Additionally, a large number of these offenders have diagnosed and undiagnosed disabilities and are in need of rehabilitation services they will never receive (Harley, 1996). Maruschak and Beck (2001) found that nearly a third of state inmates and a quarter of federal inmates reported having some physical or mental condition. The high number of incarcerated individuals with disabilities signifies a need for concerted assistance when re-entering society, specifically concerning employment Offenders with and without disabilities typically have high rates of unemployment prior to incarceration. James and Glaze (2006) found that 30% of individuals in state prison, 28% in federal prison, and 33% in local jails were unemployed prior to incarceration. They also found that 38% of state and federal inmates and 47% of jail inmates who were mentally ill were not employed in the month prior to arrest (James & Glaze).
Incarceration rates positively correlate with an elevated proportion of inmates being released back into society. Approximately 95% of offenders (i.e., approximately 1,600 individuals daily) will be released and return to the community (Pew Report, 2008). The large number of ex-offenders returning to society suggests a need to examine the challenges these individuals face. Individuals transitioning from prison back to society will often have a low level of...