Phenomenology of lived experience of convicted women in the employment workshop of Tehran Women's Penitentiary

Subject Areas : Quarterly Journal of Woman and Society

ahmad rahro khajeh ¹ (Ph.D. in Sociology, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, North Tehran Branch, Azad University, Tehran, Iran)
feyzollah norozi ² (Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, North Tehran Branch, Azad University, Tehran, Iran)
tallieh khademian ³ (. Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, North Tehran Branch, Azad University, Tehran, Iran)
zahra moshir estekhareh ⁴ (Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, North Tehran Branch, Azad University, Tehran, Iran)

Received: 2021-06-07 Accepted : 2024-07-20 Published : 2024-07-22

Keywords: Lived experience, re-socialization, women prisoners, employment and vocational training,

Abstract :

Vocational training and employment of criminals is one of the most widely used programs in prisons for re-socialization, correction and rehabilitation. The purpose of this study is a sociological analysis of the narratives of female prisoners working in vocational training and employment units. The method of this research is a qualitative phenomenological study that was conducted using a semi-structured interview. The samples include 16 women who were convicted and were in prison during the months of October to March 2017, which was obtained by using theoretical saturation in determining the sample size and snowball sampling method. Narrative analysis was used to analyze the data obtained from in-depth interviews. Findings show that female prisoners mentioned the most important motivation for attending employment units with categories such as avoiding the monotony of attendance in rooms and daily discipline, using benefits such as visits and telephone calls and leave. In conclusion, this study states that in order to re-socialize female prisoners, pay attention to the talents and creativity of prisoners and generally design programs from the bottom up and pay wages according to labor law and ensuring government support after release, are topics that are ignored by the respondents during the employment of prisoners

References:

1.  Golchin. M. (2006). Social deviation of young people in the mirror of researches (An example of the use of secondary analysis technique). Sociological Review, 28(2), 124-158.
2.  Shelley, L. (1981). Crime and Modernization: The Impact of Industrialization and Urbanization on Crime, Carbondale, pa, USA, Southern Illinois University Press; First Edition (March 2, 1981)
3. Balkan, S. Berger, R. (1979). The Changing Nature of Female Delinquency, in Becoming Female, edited by Claire B. 207-227.
4.O'Brien, P. (2008). Maximizing Success for Drug-Affected Women After Release From Prison: Examining Access to and Use of Social Services During Reentry. Women & Criminal Justice. 17(2, 3). 95-113.
 5.Langan, P. Levin, D. (2002). Recidivism of Prisoners Released in 1994.  Bureau of Justice Statistics. 15(1). 58-65.
6. Rahro Khajeh. A. Delrobaei fard, L. (2011). The role of post-release care centers in the prevention of recidivism, Journal of Reform and Education, 114(199). 24-35.
7.  Ebrahimi, S. (2012). Just rehabilitation of criminals. Criminal Law Doctrines, 9(3), 151-176.

8. Asadollahi A, Mohseni Tabrizi A, Baratvand M. (2009). Role of Exit Control Centre on Creating Employment of Women Prisoners of Khoozestan. Refahj. 9(34), 351-357.
9. Mahdavi Sabet, M. Kounani, S. (2019). Criminology of correction and treatment: “Textbook of change and correction of prisoners". Tehran. Jame’eShenasan Publication.
10. Mehraein, M. (2020). Textbook of Theory and method phenomenology. Tehran. New Event Institution.           
11. Motavalli Khameneh, M. (2009). The effect of prison on a prisoner from the perspective of pathology, Journal of Reform and Education, 8(93). 24-38.          
12. Polizzi, D. (2011). The phenomoenoloogy of davian behavior. In Handbook on Deviant Behavior Edition: 1STChapter: The phenomenology of deviant behavior. Publisher Routledge Editors: C. Bryant. 129-134.       
13.Shiri, A. (2018). Encyclopedia of criminology of convicts. Tehran. Publications of Mizan Legal Foundation.
14.  Hasani, R. (2016). The effect of technical and vocational training on the employment rate of released prisoners in Kurdistan province. Proceedings of the fifth national conference and the fourth international conference on skills training and employment. 1-11.  
15. Ebrahimi, S. (2016). Prevention of recidivism in the light of social rehabilitation of criminals, Tehran: Mizan Publishing House.

16.               Emrai Nia, M. (2017). Investigating the lived experiences of women prisoners in Sanandaj from technical and vocational training in prison, Master's thesis of Kurdistan University        .
17. Pourghahramani, B. Ostadi, A. (2016). The effect of employment and professional training of prisoners on the prevention of recidivism (case study: Tabriz prison), Quarterly of Crime Prevention Studies, 12(44) 51-35.           
18. Razani, M. (2011). The necessity of revising job skills training in prisons. Journal of Reform and Education, 11(107). 37-38.
19. Piri, S. (2017). Investigating the effectiveness of employment loans of social services department and care center after leaving the prisons of Sistan and Baluchistan province in reducing crime and return to prison. Journal of Reform and Education, 15(88). 44-49.        
20. Siwach, G. (2018). Unemployment shocks for individuals on the margin: Exploring recidivism effects. Labour Economics. 52. 231-244. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2018.02.001
21. Bales, W. D., Clark, C., Scaggs, S., Ensley, D., Coltharp, P., Singer, A., & Blomberg, T. G. (2016). An assessment of the effectiveness of prison work release programs on post-release recidivism and employment. The Florida Department of Corrections and Florida State University College of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 36, 37-46. https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/249845.pdf
22. Gill, C., Wilson, D. B. (2016). Improving the Success of Reentry Programs Identifying the Impact of Service–Need Fit on Recidivism. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 44(3), 1552-3594.     
23.   Valentine, E. Records, C. (2015). The Impact of Job Training on Prisoners: The Impact of Employment and Non-Reoffending after Release from prisons in 24 European Countries. IZA Journal of Labor Policy. 4(16). 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40173-015-0043-8.
24. Pettit, M., kroth, M. (2011). Educational services in Swedish prisons: successful programs of academic and vocational teaching. Criminal justice studies, 24 (3): 215-226 https://doi.org/10.1086/514443
25. Jackson, R. (2015). Reducing re-offending: rehabilitation and integration hrough employment. https://theknowledgeexchangeblog.com/2015/10/12/reducing-re-offending-rehabilitation-and-integration-through-employment/
26. McDonald, P., Grant-Smith, D.  Moore, K. & Marston, G. (2021). Navigating employability from the bottom up, Journal of Youth Studies, 23(4). 464-447.  
27.  Cale, J., Day, A., Casey, S., Bright, D., Wodak, J. Giles, M., Baldry, E. (2019). Australian Prison vocational education and training and return & custody among male and female Exprisoners: A Cross-Jurisdictional study. ANZSOC (Australian & New Zealand Journal of criminology, 2119.vol 52(1) .147-129 https://doi.org/10.1177/0004865818779418.
28. Newton, D., Day, A., Giles, M., Wodak, J., Graffam, J. and Badlry, E. (2018). The Impact of vocational Education and training programs on recidivism: A systematic review of current Experiment Evidence. International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology. 62(1). 217-187. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X16645083
29.  Mohammadpour. A. (2018). Counter-Method: The philosophical Underpinnings and Practical Procedures of Qualitative Methodology. Tehran. Jame’eshenasan Publication.      
30.  Creswell, J. W. (2007) Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing Among Five Approaches. London: Sage.