About the Report The Report, Part II: Review of the Re-Entry Process:

chapters and policy statements:
About the Report of the Re-Entry Council

Policy Statement 16, Research Highlight 3

Research suggests numerous benefits from correctional work programs.

Studies indicate that recidivism rates for those who participate in prison industry or receive vocational instruction or apprenticeship training are lower than for those who do not participate. [1]   Additionally, recidivism rates of participants in prison education, vocation, and work programs have been found to be 20 to 60 percent lower than those of nonparticipants. [2]   Participants in work programs are more likely both to be employed following release and to have higher earnings than nonparticipants. [3]   In addition, corrections officials report that reduced idleness leads to reduced tension within correctional facilities. [4]   For example, a 1991 analysis of more than 7,000 program participants over a two-year period found that those who received training and work experience while in prison had fewer conduct problems and were less likely to be arrested the first year after release. [5]   Jobs also allow individuals to learn workplace habits and practice their skills. The wages earned, particularly in industries and work-release jobs, help those in prison and jail and their dependents financially and allow them to contribute to court costs and restitution. In addition, these earnings provide prisoners with a sense of accomplishment, benefiting them emotionally and psychologically. [6]  

  1. William Saylor and Gerald Gaes, The Effect of Prison Employment and Vocational/Apprenticeship Training on Long-Term Recidivism, US Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons (Washington, DC: 1992). back
  2. David Wilson, Catherine Gallagher, and Doris MacKenzie, "A Meta-Analysis of Corrections-Based Education, Vocation, and Work Programs for Adult Offenders," Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 37 (2001): 347-68; Shawn Bushway, "Employment Dimensions of Reentry" (paper presented at the Urban Institute's Reentry Roundtable, May 2003); Kim Hull et al., "Analysis of Recidivism Rates for Participants of the Academic/Vocational/Transition Education Programs Offered by the Virginia Department of Correctional Education," Journal of Correctional Education 51, no. 2 (2000): 256-61. back
  3. Kenneth Adams et al., "A Large-Scale Multidimensional Test of the Effect of Prison Education on Prisoners' Behavior," The Prison Journal 74, no. 4 (1994): 433-449; Steven Steurer, Linda Smith, and Alice Tracy, Three State Recidivism Study (Lanham, MD: Correctional Educational Association, 2001). back
  4. Rob Atkinson and Knut A. Rostad, "Can Inmates Become an Integral Part of the US Workforce?" (paper presented at Urban Institute's Reentry Roundtable, New York, May 2003). back
  5. William Saylor and Gerald Gaes, The Effect of Prison Employment and Vocational/ Apprenticeship Training on Long-Term Recidivism, US Federal Bureau of Prisons (Washington, D.C.: 1992). back
  6. Rob Atkinson and Knut A. Rostad, Can Inmates Become an Integral Part of the US Workforce? (paper presented at Urban Institute's Reentry Roundtable, New York, May 2003). back
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