Samenvatting

Employment is believed to function as a ‘turning point’ for released offenders. Several theories state that employment can diminish recidivism, and offer different mechanisms to connect employment and crime, such as job stability and job quality. This study examines the effect of employment and employment characteristics on recidivism among Dutch ex-prisoners. Although recidivism risks are high among this group, longitudinal research on the effect of employment on recidivism risks is scarce. We based our analyses on longitudinal data of the Prison Project (n=842) and found that job stability reduces the risk of recidivism. The results indicate that not the guidance to a job, or a high-quality job, but the guidance to stable employment could help to reduce crime rates among this high-risk offender group.