Qualitative Sociology

As incarceration rates in the United States have risen to historically unprecedented levels, so too has the number of individuals being released from prison. These individuals come disproportionately from already marginalized groups, and they average poor labor market and criminal justice outcomes. In this dissertation, I contribute to our understanding of the experiences of men released from prison by exploring the individual and contextual factors that shape their outcomes. I analyze data on 2,174 prisoners released between 2004 and 2008 to Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, Minneapolis-St. Paul, and New York, to study three related questions about which there is little empirical research for this population. First, I ask how post-prison employment experiences relate to the odds of arrest. I find that employment, particularly if it pays well, is negatively correlated with arrest, controlling for fixed differences between individuals. However, I and others find that few former prisoners obtain such well-paying employment. Second, I examine the importance of local labor market conditions. I find that unemployment rates are negatively associated with individual employment, as expected, but that the relationshi