Mock Concept Paper for Dissertation - Research Proposal Example

Employment gives people tasks and responsibilities that keep them busy, which leaves them with little time to engage in vices that might lead to criminal activities. The most common methods of crime prevention are through deterrence, which is achieved by incarcerating offenders in jails, prisons and penitentiaries. The basic principle with this method is that it denies offenders their basic freedoms of movement and association amongst others. Depending on the terms of their incarceration, offenders eventually get to return to their communities and societies, which are referred to as reentry.

The process of reentry poses different challenges depending on the nature of their communities and societies. This is because there exist various stereotypes and perceptions with regard to people who have been involved with crime. The degree of successful reentry into society after incarceration determines the levels or extent of recidivism of offenders. Previous research studies have established a connection or relation between employment, reentry and recidivism of offenders in society. Various factors play a role in determining the success or failure of re-integrating back into society or their recidivism into crime and incarceration.

Employment is a key factor in these matters because it determines whether they are able to cater for their needs in a sustainable and lawful manner. Statement of the Problem The role of employment as a factor in offender reentry and recidivism provides a potential avenue for further study into the role that it can play in rehabilitation efforts away from institutions. Employment ensures that offenders are engaged in constructive endeavors that benefit themselves and their community. Various factors influence the ability of offenders to acquire or attain employment after they rejoin their communities.

These factors have varying effects depending on the individual and characteristic society or community. As it has been established by previous studies, employment or its lack is a major instigator of crime. This is because; employment provides a source of livelihood, without which an individual is forced to seek alternative means of earning a living. In today’s world, alternative sources of earning a livelihood are permeated with illegal aspects that land people in jail. There are various independent (IV), dependent variables (DV), mediating and moderating variables that have been the subject of research studies regarding their influence on employment and crime (Fairchild & Mackinnon, 2009).

A key construct in the journal article ‘Reentry and the Ties that Bind: An Examination of Social Ties, Employment and Recidivism’, are the social ties of an offender reentering society (Berg & Huebner, 2011). Researchers in this study found out that offenders who maintained social ties with their families and obtained steady work were less likely to recidivate (Berg & Huebner, 2011). A research study was conducted under the title, “Predicting Recidivism for Released State Prison Offenders: Examining the Influence of Individual and Neighborhood Characteristics and Spatial Contagion on the Likelihood of Re-incarceration” (Stahler et al. 2013). In another research study, the effects of Minnesota Prison-Based Educational Programming on Recidivism and Employment were