Gillis & Nafekh (2005) – ‘The Impact of community-based employment on offender reintegration’, Forum on Corrections Research. Vol. 17. No. 1. CORRECTIONAL SERVICE OF CANADA, 2005.
Background
This is the first study that we will be looking at for the After a guilty verdict section of A2 Forensic Psychology, which is the 4th and final section. Gillis & Nafekh (2005) is further categorised into the sub-section ‘Imprisonment.’
Previous research has identified unstable employment and a lack of conventional ambition as important risk and need factors among offenders. When these factors are not properly addressed, they can lead to reoffending. Such researchers have noted the benefits of skilled employment as a way of reintegrating into society for offenders.
However, Gillis and Nafekh believe there are methodological deficits in such research. Despite this, they still believe that there is some empirical evidence supporting the view that employment has an important role in contributing to community outcomes for offenders and preventing recidivism.
Aim
To explore the specific relationship between employment status and community outcomes for groups of federal offenders: those employed while on condition release, and a matched comparison group of offenders who were unemployed.
Participants
23,525 Canadian offenders released on a conditional release between January 1st 1998 and January 1st 2005.
22,262 men (95%)
1,456 women (5%)
This was later filtered down to:
4,640 matched men
156 matched women
Method
Content Analysis.
The data was gathered from the Correctional Service of Canada’s (CSC’s) automated database (Offender Management System; OMS).
The data was analysed using statistical analysis software.
The offenders were divided into two groups: offenders recorded as being employed between their release date and the end of their sentence and those who were unemployed.
The offenders in the ’employed’ group were randomly matched to those in the ‘unemployed’ group. This left a sample of 4,640 matched mean and 156 matched women.
Results
Both employed men and women were more likely to remain on conditional release until the end of their sentence.
Gillis & Nafekh (2005) – Evaluation
+ Usefulness – the research is highly useful in preventing recidivism of offenders
– Ethnocentrism – as the participants were all from Canada it is difficult to generalise the results to other populations.
+ Large Sample – as the sample is large, which will give an a more reliable and generalisable data set.
+ No experimenter bias – as the study was a content analysis using computer software, we can argue that there is a low chance of experimenter bias.
– There is a lack of depth in this research, we do not know why the employed offenders are less likely to reoffend.
Below is an audio Podcast of Gillis & Nafekh (2005):
References
Further Reading
OCR A2 Psychology Student Unit Guide: Unit G543: Forensic Psychology (Student Unit Guides)
Thankz