Society nowadays is highly diverse. Social differences today are based on various aspects of individuals, such as their background, culture, ethnicity, financial status, sexual orientation, age, health status. Diverse members of modern society often experience various difficulties finding employment. One of the social groups that face many obstacles on the way of getting hired is former prisoners and people with records.
Many ex-felons are willing to fit back into the working society, yet to accomplish this goal successfully, they often need professional help and orientation because their way of coming back to the society is complicated by multiple limitations and legal issues working against these people. Without proper consultation and help former prisoners often get lost, feel like being trapped in a dead corner, fail to find ways out and fall back into their old lifestyle being in despair and trying to survive on their own.
Career centers are the resources that can be especially helpful in the situations diverse members of modern society face trying to find employment. Career counseling is the service provided by a career center; this kind of counseling is necessary for the former prisoners looking to reenter the working society. Career counseling takes into consideration various social differences of the individuals in need of such services.
Early career counseling was based on the personal traits and skills of each individual (Zunker 2012). Modern career counseling addresses the legal and social issues too. The needs of various social groups and minorities trying to find employment differ quite a lot. Former prisoners experience the need for stabilization and survival in a new society, they also need assistance with the issues of the transitional stage, they require any advice about the employment opportunities, workplaces that are paid to hire ex-felons and legal obstacles for people with a criminal record.
The quantitative research conducted by Urban Institute Justice Policy Center professionals helped to identify the factors that are considered to be the strengths of ex-felons as a social group in relation to finding legal employment within eight months after being released from prison. Data presented by the Institute showed that the factors that increase the chances of a former prisoner to be employed soon after the release are, of course, better education and stronger employment before the incarceration, having a job or receiving an additional professional training while in prison, documented withdrawal from using drugs within several months after being released, owning a debt, having a document with one’s photograph identifying their race as white and being younger than thirty-five years (Visher, Debus & Yahner 2008).
Statistically, the majority of former prisoners rely on the financial help of the family members and friends more than on the chance of finding legal employment. Besides, most of the ex-offenders end up getting hired, but many of them cannot keep the job for various reasons. Among the weaknesses of this social group, there are such factors as durable drug addictions, health issues or mental conditions, low level of skills, lack of education and the ability to do only the jobs that gradually disappear from the work market (Shivy, Wu, Moon & Mann 2007).
The services an online career resource center must provide in order to meet the needs of former prisoners reentering the legal employment market are the help with transitional issues, counseling, and advice about stabilization, survival, and obtaining self-sufficiency. Besides, an online career resource must provide the clients with information about the organizations that are paid to hire ex-offenders.
Many of the former prisoners reenter the market of legal jobs being in debt or having financial obligations related to the need to support a family with young children; this increases the need for finding quick and appropriate employment for this group of people. The career resource centers also must provide the job seekers with instructions as to state-specific rules related to their social status and descriptions of the procedures ex-felons looking for legal employment need to go through before getting hired.
The problems former prisoners face while looking for employment are very different, and some of them are not described in any literature. Yet, the professionals are working on various ways of assistance in order to help make the process of reentry quicker and less stressful. The common opinion is that the former prisoners that choose to follow the legal path can become valuable and wanted members of the society very quickly; this is why the society is open to helping them overcome their issues (U. S. Department of Labor 2005). Once these individuals return to the legal lifestyle, they can do a lot of good for themselves and the people around them.
Reference List
Shivy, V. A., Wu, J. J., Moon, A. E. & Mann, S. C. (2007). Ex-Offenders Reentering the Workforce. Journal of Counseling Psychology 54(4), 466-473.
U. S. Department of Labor (2005). Employment Information Handbook for Ex-Offenders. Web.
Visher, C., Debus, S. & Yahner, J. (2008). Employment after Prison: A Longitudinal Study of Releasees in Three States. Web.
Zunker, V. G. (2012). Career counseling: A holistic approach (8th ed.). Belmont, CA: Cengage, Brooks/Cole.