Imprisonment Length and Post-Prison Employment Prospects

• NCJ Number: 248267
• Journal: Criminology Volume: 52 Issue: 3 Dated: August 2014 Pages: 399-427
• Author(s): Anke Ramakers; Robert Apel; Paul Nieuwbeerta; Anja Dirkzwager; Johan Van Wilsem
• Date Published: August 2014
• Length: 29 pages
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study considers the relationship between imprisonment length and employment outcomes.

Abstract

All subjects thus experience prison confinement of varying lengths, although the durations are relatively short (mean = 3.8 months; median = 3.1 months). This contrasts with prior research that was limited to the study of American prison sentences spanning an average of 2 years. These data thus fill a gap in the empirical base concerning short-term confinement, which is the norm in the United States (e.g., jail incarceration) and other Western countries. Using a comprehensive array of pre-prison covariates, a propensity score methodology is used to examine the dose-response relationship between imprisonment length and a variety of employment outcomes. The results indicate that, among prison lengths less than 6 months in duration, longer confinement is largely uncorrelated with employment. In contrast, among spells in excess of 6 months, longer imprisonment length seems to worsen employment prospects. (Published Abstract)