| Despite acceptance of employment as an important criminogenic need (Gendreau, Little, & Goggin, 1996; Gendreau, Goggin, & Grey, 1998; Motiuk, 1996), the construct has not received systematic exploration commensurate with that of other well-established offender needs (e.g., criminal attitudes). In 1993, the Correctional Service of Canada initiated an employment research strategy to attain a more comprehensive understanding of the impact of employment on offender community adjustment. Results from these studies support the role of employment, in contributing to offender community reintegration. This paper will present these findings, along with a theoretical framework for the exploration of community employment stability. The theoretical perspective accounts for various factors postulated to influence employment stability, including: attitudes toward work and crime, social support, occupational and criminal self efficacy and intention to find work. The theoretical framework, research methodology and preliminary results from this study will be described. Furthermore, implications and future directions for employment research will be discussed.
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Updated 05/20/2006