Thesis
Social stigma and meaningful activity in incarcerated individuals
Master of Science (M.S.), Drexel University
Jun 2020
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/00001011
Abstract
The United States historically overutilizes incarceration in response to crime, in an effort to improve community safety, satisfy specific and general deterrence, and to achieve personal or societal retribution. Another primary goal of incarceration is rehabilitation, which should help justice-involved individuals develop important skills relevant to reentry and avoiding future offending. Although previous research has identified social stigma as an additional barrier to community reintegration, there has been relatively little research on ways to reduce the general public's ostracizing views of reentering populations. The present study surveyed the general public (N=1,697) to appraise their perceptions of incarcerated individuals who will reenter the community. The results reveal that when incarcerated individuals engage in rehabilitative programs, this may improve community members' acceptance of them when they return to the community. Additionally, individuals who engage in a more severe offense may face heightened stigma and community rejection. This study suggests that participating in rehabilitative programs may improve community members' comfort interacting with a justice-involved individual regardless of the severity of their offense. These results suggest that social stigma directed towards reentering populations is not monolithic, thereby emphasizing the importance of providing rehabilitative opportunities, and evaluating the scope and quality of such programs. Furthermore, this study reveals that public concerns about incarcerated individuals involving fear that they will continue to offend may underlie assumptions that all individuals with a criminal record are dangerous, and in turn deserve punishment post incarceration. These findings underscore the importance of rehabilitative activities for incarcerated individuals in their potentially favorable impact on public perceptions, as they may help to dispel community discomfort with reentering individuals and make the already-challenging task of returning to the community somewhat less discouraging.
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Details
- Title
- Social stigma and meaningful activity in incarcerated individuals
- Creators
- Heidi Jane Zapotocky
- Contributors
- Kirk Heilbrun (Advisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Drexel University
- Degree Awarded
- Master of Science (M.S.)
- Publisher
- Drexel University; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Number of pages
- vii, 91 pages
- Resource Type
- Thesis
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Psychological and Brain Sciences (Psychology); College of Arts and Sciences; Drexel University
- Other Identifier
- 991014695239504721