“Where’s the Second Chance?” Compounded Stigma and Other Factors Impacting Ex‐Prisoner Employment

“Where’s the Second Chance?” Compounded Stigma and Other Factors Impacting Ex‐Prisoner Employment

ABSTRACT

Ex-prisoners with meaningful employment are less likely to return to prison; however, ex-prisoners have the highest unemployment rates of any marginalised group. This article draws on the voices of former prisoners who are seeking employment through government-funded employment agencies in Australia and staff working in these agencies. Revealed themes of employment service providers’ practices, employer attitudes, navigating stigma, ongoing surveillance, and advocacy and support were analysed in the context of theories of integration, resisting re-offending (desistance), discrimination, and stigma. We unpack the way different forms of stigma and discrimination lock marginalised groups of criminalised people into unemployment.