Women's Transitions from Prison by Rosemary Sheehan Chris Trotter

Author:Rosemary Sheehan, Chris Trotter [Rosemary Sheehan, Chris Trotter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Criminology
ISBN: 9781315455679
Google: iKQyDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2017-08-25T03:27:40+00:00

Education and employment

Engaging in paid work is seen to provide many benefits following release from prison, including the provision of income and social connections (Uggen, 2000; Blumstein and Nakamura, 2009). For the women in this study, however, employment or education presented particular challenges. Less than half the women reported accessing prison-based education programs, a mix of women serving short sentences, or being on remand; there were long waiting lists for these programmes (see Figure 5.4). The same figures featured at both three and six months interview points, with less than half of the women engaged in these activities, although at six months 6 women (n=21) said they were enjoying taking education courses, with another 3 planning to begin education. At 12 months, the majority of the women again were not involved with employment or education, nor were they seeking this; a small number (5, n=28) described looking for work or educational opportunities. This number is lower at 12 months than at 3 months, either because some women already had paid work or they had adjusted their plans, given their life circumstances. The women at this point said some of the challenges to gaining work and/or education came from timing, systemic issues and accessibility. Timing included hours of work balanced with other commitments like child care; systemic challenges included feeling they were unwelcome in the employment or school environment, or they were excluded, one woman as an Indigenous Australian saying: ‘No jobs in Shepparton [regional city in Victoria] for us Indigenous girls’.

Figure 5.4 Current activities in relation to employment/education post-release

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