An alternative to crime : facilitating employability for prison inmates

Abstract

Being imprisoned involves being barred from living a free life. However, this state of constraint should not condition the prison inmate once released. When being inside prison walls, inmates have to be prepared well for their transition back to society in order to avoid their return to custody. This dissertation highlights the importance of widening employment opportunities for prison inmates as a means of reducing recidivism in our country. Employment is the crucial element for one's physical survival. It is one of the legal methods of earning capital. Therefore, preparing inmates with the appropriate knowledge, skills and attitudes for the world of work, is an imp011ant pa11 of any adult learning process. It is a known fact that inmates find it difficult to secure employment once they are released. This can be due to various reasons, one of them being prisoners' lack of qualifications and especially job-seeking skills. By providing inmates with the skills necessary for obtaining employment upon their release, finding a job would become a simpler task. Through an analysis of the measures being taken abroad in order to equip inmates with such skills, together with interviews with the main stakeholders involved in this process, we have designed a Job Seeking Skills Manual with the aim of furthering prisoners' possibilities in seeming employment.