Efforts by Offenders to Manage and Overcome Stigma: The Case of Employment

Abstract

This article explores how released prisoners on parole overcome the stigma of a criminal conviction in their attempts to secure employment. Findings highlight how overcoming the consequences of stigma for finding work requires forms of identity management, and assistance by family and friends that send signals to employers that a former inmate has changed and is a capable worker. The article illustrates that employment provides opportunities for the formation of redemption scripts and a ‘replacement-self through the process of voluntary self-disclosure. We explore these issues through interview data collected from individuals serving a parole order in Queensland, Australia. The article provides insights into the effects of stigma management on offender reintegration.

Keywords:

• reintegration
• parole
• stigma
• employment
• signaling
• disclosure
• Queensland