Swehli, Mariam;
(2022)
"The only option they have is to go back to crime": Using Critical Race Theory to explore Labour Market Barriers Impacting Previously incarcerated individuals.
Masters thesis (M.Sc), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
You leave prison, having just served your sentence for a non-violent crime you were found guilty of. A new start is on the Horizon, or so they say, only to find yourself moneyless, homeless, and jobless. With little help from your council or even your parole officer (Durnescu, 2010), stuck in a catch 22 situation. You do not want to continue through a life of crime and yet you find that time and time again job opportunities are being taken away from you. You have now become disfavoured, a stigma, a stereotype (Shivy et al., 2007). Told that your skills do not match the jobs you applied for (Unlock, 2022), and yet your application ends before it has even begun, it ends the moment you tick the criminal conviction box (Agan & Starr, 2016). That is the life of previously convicted individuals (Dominguez Alvarez & Loureiro, 2012). Through the implementation of Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory (1977), this study explored barriers previously incarcerated individuals experience within the different levels of the system and their impact on labour market outcomes. Using Delgado and Stefancic’s (2017) Critical Race Theory, the study also examined UK criminal justice laws and policies and their impact on barriers experienced due to ethnicity, race, and religious beliefs. Using semi-structured in-depth interviews and applying Braun & Clarke’s (2019) Thematic analysis, findings suggest that previous inmates experience difficulty finding employment due to harsh prison circumstances, poor mental health, lack of stable housing upon release, social stigma, and criminal conviction boxes. The findings also suggest that the individual’s family and friends were responsible for them leaving behind a life of crime and gaining stable employment. Race impacted all these barriers, with racial stratification and a racialised social hierarchy ensuring white-previous inmates are at an advantage from their non-white counterparts (Bonilla-Silva, 2015).
| Type: | Thesis (Masters) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | M.Sc |
| Title: | "The only option they have is to go back to crime": Using Critical Race Theory to explore Labour Market Barriers Impacting Previously incarcerated individuals |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Keywords: | Critical race theory, prisons, Justice involved men, employment, Qualitative research, prisoners |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Psychology and Human Development |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10199418 |
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