NCJ Number
223856
Journal
Journal of Quantitative Criminology Volume: 24 Issue: 3 Dated: September 2008 Pages: 243-265
Date Published
September 2008
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This study used a unique dataset constructed from two sets of administrative records in order to examine the association between incarceration and employment rates for former Illinois female State inmates.
Abstract
The findings indicate that prison time that took female inmates out of the work force did not reduce their postprison employment rates below their preprison levels. In fact, over the short term their postprison employment rates were approximately 4 percentages points above that of their preprison employment rate; however, this gain did not continue over time, as their employment rates fell back to preprison levels. The study sample consisted of women who entered an Illinois State prison between January 1, 1995, and December 31, 2000, and who had not been incarcerated between July 1, 1989, and December 31, 1994. Because the literature suggests that recidivism rates are very low for individuals who have been out of prison for at least 5 years, the study considered the sample to consist of first-time inmates (n=6,991). The women in the sample were disproportionately African-American, unmarried, and high-school dropouts. They tended to serve short prison terms (less than 6 months for about half of the sample). The economy was in relatively good condition throughout the sampling period. The study obtained information on female prison inmates from the admission and exit records of the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC). In order to obtain these women’s employment information, the IDOC records were matched to the Chapin Hall Center for Children’s IDB database. The IDB file contains information on women who have contact with social and children’s welfare services in Illinois. Quarterly wage histories for the matched sample was obtained from records maintained by the Illinois Department of employment security. 7 tables, 2 figures, and appended discussion of the merged IDOC and Chapin Hall integrated database