IMPRISONMENT LENGTH AND POST-PRISON EMPLOYMENT PROSPECTS

• Published in: Criminology (Beverly Hills) Vol. 52; no. 3; pp. 399 - 427
• Main Authors: RAMAKERS, ANKE, APEL, ROBERT, NIEUWBEERTA, PAUL, DIRKZWAGER, ANJA, VAN WILSEM, JOHAN
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Columbus Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.08.2014; American Society of Criminology
• Subjects: Criminology; Empirical research; Employment; Ex-convicts; Imprisonment; imprisonment length; Methodology; Netherlands; Prisons; propensity score methodology; Social control; the Netherlands; U.S.A; United States of America
• ISSN: 0011-1384; 1745-9125
• DOI: 10.1111/1745-9125.12042

This study considers the relationship between imprisonment length and employment outcomes. The data are a unique prospective, longitudinal study of Dutch pretrial detainees (N = 702). All subjects thus experience prison confinement of varying lengths, although the durations are relatively short (mean = 3.8 months; median = 3.1 months). This contrasts with prior research that was limited to the study of American prison sentences spanning an average of 2 years. These data thus fill a gap in the empirical base concerning short‐term confinement, which is the norm in the United States (e.g., jail incarceration) and other Western countries. Using a comprehensive array of pre‐prison covariates, a propensity score methodology is used to examine the dose–response relationship between imprisonment length and a variety of employment outcomes. The results indicate that, among prison lengths less than 6 months in duration, longer confinement is largely uncorrelated with employment. In contrast, among spells in excess of 6 months, longer imprisonment length seems to worsen employment prospects.