| dc.description.abstract | Offenders discharged from correctional institutions are confronted by social, economic and
individual difficulties that tend to become barriers to crime free lifestyle. Some of these
difficulties are as a result of the outcomes of imprisonment and the problem of transitioning
back into the community worsened by their inability to join job market due to requirements
of certificate of good conduct, poor skills, and drug addiction among others. It is along this
background that this study under the guidance of social justice theory examined ex-offenders’
perceptions about Kenya’s job reentry initiatives. To achieve this, the research adopted
descriptive survey research design. A Snowballing sampling method was used to select 55
ex-convicts who had transitioned back into Kakamega County, Kenya. The main instrument
used for this study was a single questionnaire which included questions about the
participants’ demographic characteristics, incarceration history, employment, and perceptions
about prerelease preparation, aftercare services and effect of civil disabilities (certificate of
good conduct) on their employment. Responses to interview questions were coded in
Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and analyzed using Chi-Square at α = 0.05
level of significance for hypothesis testing. Findings showed that the programs have a dismal
record of jointly improving employment outcomes and of lowering recidivism probabilities
among the individuals who participate in them. Hypothesis testing concluded that there is
significant relationship between perceived outcomes of Kenya reentry initiatives by exconvicts
and the years spent in prison. In fact, 38.8% explained the difference in perception
(x2 = 16.818, df. 8; α < 0.05). Level of education explained 22.6% of the difference in
perception about reentry programs, though statistically this was not sufficient to reject null
hypothesis (x2 = 8.709, df. 8; α < 0.05). Level of education had only 1.1% influence on
perception about Certificate of good conduct as a barrier to employment, statistically there
was no significant relationship between these two variables (x2 = 1.072 df. 8 ; α < 0.05). | en_US |
