SOLUTION

Introduction 

More than half of previously incarcerated American people are unable to get good employment and affordable housing within their first year of release from prison (U.S Department of Justice, 2018,). This makes it difficult for them to reintegrate into their families as well as their communities, leading to higher rates of recidivism in the country. For example, the Bureau of Justice Statistics shows that approximately 68% of the previously incarcerated people are rearrested within three years of release (Alper, Durose, & Markman, 2018).

The same way any other individual needs a job to take care of his or her basic needs, chase after life ends, and build up his society is the same way the previously incarcerated people do. Employment and affordable housing do not only aid previously incarcerated victims gain both social and economic strength, but also mitigate the rate of recidivism (Sawyer, & Wagner, 2020). Various studies have demonstrated that the majority of the previously incarcerated people have a desire to work to meet their basic needs; however, they face structural barriers especially when they get released from prison due to various key issues evaluated hereafter (Qasim, & Webster, 2020).

Key Issues related to the problem

There are various crucial issues related to why previously incarcerated people are unable to find good employment and affordable housing within their first year of release from prison. For example, during imprisonment, the majority of inmates lose work-related skills and expertise; they are instead given very few chances to gain significant experience related to work (Palmer, & Christian, 2019). Furthermore, the presence of job-related educational packages is limited in prisons hence denying inmates opportunities to renew their skills, experience, and knowledge that most employing organizations go for (Anazodo, Ricciardelli, & Chan, 2019). There is also a criminal record related to the previously incarcerated people.

 Most organizations don’t want to taint the good corporate image that cost them a lot to build. For this reason, they fear incorporating employees with criminal records (Qasim, & Webster, 2020). Additionally, there is the question of prejudice, negative attitudes, and formed ideologies about the previously incarcerated people that don’t resonate with most organizations’ working policies, culture as well as top leadership (Anazodo, Ricciardelli, & Chan, 2019). Some organizations consider them as victims of the influence of bad character on the existing employees hence denying them a chance of employment. Lastly, some previously incarcerated people tend to nurture the desire to commit more crimes and return to prison vis-à-vis chasing a lawful form of earning a living (Augustine, 2019).

Research questions to be addressed 

Some of the research questions I intend to answer in relation to the problem statement include:

1. What prison programs inform inmates’ employment experiences, attitudes, skills, and general expertise to guarantee them employment chances upon release?
2. What are the factors that influence whether previously incarcerated individuals find employment in the year upon release?
3. What causes the change of attitude and negative prejudice upon people in the society on the previously incarcerated individuals to the point they are denied jobs?
4. How do unemployment and lack of affordable housing affect the re-entry of previously incarcerated individuals into the community?
5. How can the community, justice system, state, and correctional practitioners help previously incarcerated citizens reintegrate successfully into society after release?

Potential sources of data

Some of the potential sources of data incorporated for this study include; secondary sources such as journal articles, scholarly books, literature reviews, and periodicals (Tight, 2019). The study draws its insights also from government sources such as correctional departments, prison statistics, justice system professional bodies, the internet, commentaries as well as encyclopedias. Lastly, the study will gather information from dissertations that have been done in the related field, newspaper editorials, written opinion pieces on the same field of study, and biographies where need be (Bell, & Waters, 2018).

The Expected outcome of the Project

Some of the anticipated outcome for this project includes; difficulty in reintegrating previously incarcerated individuals into the family and community due to long imprisonment duration which reduced the rapport between the two (Qasim, & Webster, 2020). There is also an outcome of unemployment challenge for previously incarcerated individuals due to a lack of expertise, education qualification, and experience that most modern organization consider deemed for work (Palmer, & Christian, 2019). By the same token, there is an anticipated outcome of a lack of affordable housing for the previously incarcerated individuals when they return to society.

This is so because their long stay in prison makes their loved ones forget them, own their property, and put their belongings to use forgetting they may return one day (Anazodo, Ricciardelli, & Chan, 2019). Lastly, there is an anticipated poor relational outcome between the previously incarcerated individuals and the people in the community. This is due to a lack of reinforcement of interpersonal skills for previously incarcerated people while in the prison.