What organisational culture fosters resilience in the ex-offender in the workplace?

Prison as rehabilitation does not seem to be working.
Preliminary research suggests personal resilience is key to the ex-offender obtaining and remaining in work. However, studies show (YouGov, 2016 and MOJ, 2018) show that half of employers are unwilling to employ ex-offenders due to concerns over the reputational risk to their business and the lack of social and capability skills. There remains a gap in support for prisoners finding and maintaining meaningful employment. How to effect change in the systems that surround individual ex-offenders such that they are more likely to gain and remain in work, is of pressing concern.

Research into resilience in the workplace in response to the challenges of imprisonment and release is lacking (Markson et al., 2015). Resilience is not something an individual has [but] a developmental process (Cicchetti, 2010:145). Applying this theory to the ex-offender who has developed resilience, despite disadvantage is an area of research I would like to explore further. My personal experience forms part of my motivation for this study.

I aim to conduct fifteen qualitative, semi-structured interviews focussing on positive stories of resilience, potentially demonstrated by individuals positively adapting to hardship and/or others supporting them (Hart and Aumann, 2017). My research has potential implications for economic social welfare and social support.