Employment for former prisoners is a critical pathway toward reintegration into society and is central to the processes of desistance from crime. Nevertheless, the economic climate in Western countries has aggravated the ability of former prisoners and people with criminal records to find gainful employment.
After Prison opens with a former prisoner’s story of reintegration employment experiences. Next, relying on a combination of research interviews, quantitative data, and literature, contributors present an international comparative review of Canada’s evolving criminal record legislation; the promotive features of employment; the complex constraints and stigma former prisoners encounter as they seek employment; and the individual and societal benefits of assisting former prisoners attain “gainful” employment. A main theme throughout is the interrelationship between employment and other central conditions necessary for safety and sustenance.
This book offers suggestions for criminal record policy amendments and new reintegration practices that would assist individuals in the search for employment. Using the evidence and research findings of practitioners and scholars in social work, criminology and law, psychology, and other related fields, the contributors concentrate on strategies that will reduce the stigma of having been in prison; foster supportive relationships between social and legal agencies and prisons and parole systems; and encourage individually tailored resources and training following release of individuals.

Rose Ricciardelli is an assistant professor at Memorial University. She has published in academic journals such as Sex Roles, Criminal Justice Review, Qualitative Sociological Review, Journal of Crime and Justice, and Journal of Criminal Justice Education. Her research explores prisoner culture, wrongful conviction, desistance, and the coping strategies, gender identity, and risk perception of prisoners and correctional officers.

Rose Ricciardelli's profile page

Adrienne M.F. Peters is an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology at Memorial University of Newfoundland. Her seminal research is a longitudinal study examining specialized probation for mentally disordered and serious-/violent young offenders. Research interests include: youth delinquency; mental health; correctional programming; policy; policing recruitment/training; and collaborative policing/crime reduction. She has presented on and co-authored publications in these areas.

Adrienne M.F. Peters' profile page

After Prison is a frank assessment of hard realities....[an] appeal to a society that still believes in second chances

Holly Doan, Blacklock's Reporter, 2018 March 26