Date of Conferral

2021

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Human Services

Advisor

Tina F. Jaeckle

Abstract

Since the 1980s, the population of women prisoners incarcerated in the state of California had significantly increased by 500% more than that of the male prisoners. The United States had more incarcerated women than any other country. Along with this alarming rise in female incarceration, recidivism rates were also higher among female inmates. This problem has negatively affected women in California; whereas 57% of the women released from prison were rearrested within three to seven years. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological research study was to investigate how 18 women who had recidivated with the same or a different criminal behavior describe their readiness for employment after release from a prison, jail, or detention center in the State of California. Evidence in the data collected involved semi structured interviews with one-on-one participants. This evidence revealed that women released without the proper employment skill will find obtaining employment difficult. Data analysis used were the Moustakas’s modified van Kaam method. The key findings indicated that women offenders that were not prepared for immediate employment return to prison due to societal and personal barriers involving gaining employment. The implications for positive social changes were directed at policymakers, executive decision-makers, administrators, and staff member who work in the criminal justice system, as well as community organization leaders. The information from this study could be instrumental in how specialists, social workers and the justice system can create plans and programs for women’s reentry into society and becoming employable once release from prison.

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