Does Stable Employment after Prison Reduce Recidivism Irrespective of Prior Employment and Offending?

Abstract

Sampson and Laub’s (1990, 1993) life course theory posits that stable employment can rehabilitate a criminal trajectory, irrespective of criminal history. Others contend that post-prison employment could be attributable to pre-prison patterns. These hypotheses have not been fully evaluated. Drawing on a random sample of 1,607 restored citizens in Ohio, this paper analyzes matched administrative and unemployment insurance (UI) data across three-year pre- and post-prison periods and provides new evidence that employment stability reduces recidivism irrespective of pre-prison employment stability or extensive criminal history. Individuals we label “employment gainers” lacked stable employment before prison, comprise 41% of the stably employed after prison, with recidivism levels indistinguishable from those with stable employment in both periods. Reductions in recidivism associated with employment stability are consistent across levels of criminal history. Our results thus carve a clearer vision of the possibilities for redemption among those with marginal employment histories and extensive criminal histories.