Abstract
Thousands of individuals reenter society from the U.S. incarceration system each year. Reentry involves challenges in social integration, stigma and discrimination, psychological well-being, and essentially, finding and maintaining employment. Research illuminates the potential of professional identity development for vocational success and reducing recidivism. In this study, a series of professional identity workshops were conducted as a pilot study with a cohort of participants in a Missouri jail. Participants completed a pre- and post-assessment Likert-scale survey. Data was analyzed with an independent t-test between attendees who attended the first workshop (n=19) and those who continued with the second workshop (n=6). Results indicate that three items were significantly different between those who stayed in the workshop and those who dropped out. These were the opportunity to get paid utilizing one's talents; strong interest in one's job; and satisfaction with one's employment. The findings indicate the necessity of giving incarcerated individuals the skills and assistance they need to effectively re-enter society.
Author Information
Aniketh Naidu, Saint Louis University, United States
Hisako Matsuo, Saint Louis University, United States
Elizabeth Salley, Saint Louis University, United States
Dhairya Shah, Saint Louis University, United States
Paper Information
Conference: BCE2023
Stream: Education
This paper is part of the BCE2023 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Naidu A., Matsuo H., Salley E., & Shah D. (2023) Unlocking Potential: Understanding Pathways to Professional Identity Development for Prisoners in a Missouri Jail ISSN: 2435-9467 – The Barcelona Conference on Education 2023: Official Conference Proceedings https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2435-9467.2023.58
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2435-9467.2023.58
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