Work as a drama: The experience of former prisoners in the labour market
| DOI | 10.1177/1477370819838718 |
| Date | 01 March 2021 |
| Author | Ioan Durnescu |
| Published date | 01 March 2021 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/1477370819838718
European Journal of Criminology
2021, Vol. 18(2) 170 –191
© The Author(s) 2019
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DOI: 10.1177/1477370819838718
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Work as a drama:
The experience of
former prisoners in
the labour market
Ioan Durnescu
University of Bucharest, Romania
Abstract
This article is based on an ethnographic study that took place between 2014and 2016 in Romania.
We followed up 58 ex-prisoners (of whom 28 were Roma) for one year after release, in order
to develop a deeper understanding of what their experiences mean to them, their resources,
their symbols, the obstacles they encounter and their strategies in the re-entry process. Using a
dramaturgical coding approach (Saldaña, 2005), we have identified different employment routes
depending on the participants’ personal and social capital, the opportunities available to them and
the environment they live in. It became clear that ex-prisoners lack skills of self-presentation; in
particular, they lack ‘personal front’ (Goffman, 1956) – a lack that, in combination with ‘learned
helplessness’ (Sullivan etal., 2012), creates problems for employment. The implications for theory
and practice are discussed.
Keywords
Dramaturgical coding, employment, former prisoners, prisoners, re-entry, Romania
Introduction
Work is often associated with desistance from crime (Duwe, 2015; Farrall and Calverley,
2006; Laub and Sampson, 2001; Lipsey, 1995), sometimes through a cognitive change
(Giordano et al., 2002) or through identity transformation (Maruna, 2001). The extent to
which employment contributes to criminal desistence or is rather a consequence of it is
still a contested area (Skardhamar and Savolainen, 2012). Yet finding work is very often
one of the key struggles that former prisoners encounter in the first months after release.
Although employment seems to play a crucial role in the post-release period, little
Corresponding author:
Ioan Durnescu, Faculty of Sociology and Social Work, University of Bucharest, 9 Schitu Magureanu, Sector
1, Bucharest, 010181, Romania.
Email: idurnescu@gmail.com
838718EUC0010.1177/1477370819838718European Journal of CriminologyDurnescu
research-article2019
Article
Durnescu 171
attention has been paid to the micro-behaviours employed by former prisoners to increase
their chances in the labour market. By using a dramaturgical approach (Berg, 2001;
Goffman, 1959; Saldaña, 2005), this article focuses closely on the objectives, conflicts,
tactics and props that former prisoners use in order to find work and perform their
employment roles (Saldaña, 2011). This framework provides a more detailed and ana-
lytical picture of the everyday effort of former prisoners as they struggle to find and keep
a job after release.
The article is based on an ethnographic study conducted with 58 prisoners released from
one of the largest prisons in Romania – Bucharest Jilava Prison. Jilava Prison is not only
one of the largest but also one of the oldest in Romania, having been established in 1907.
Normally, the prison holds around 1400 prisoners at any moment in time. Most of them are
sentenced for property crimes. The prison has two regimes: semi-open and open. The par-
ticipants were selected from the open regime. Only prisoners from the open regime are
eligible for conditional release. However, being on the open regime does not imply auto-
matic conditional release. In most cases, prisoners are conditionally released after serving
two-thirds of their sentence. Almost all our participants were conditionally released on the
sole condition not to commit further offences during the period of parole. Only three par-
ticipants in this study had been released after serving the full term. Under the new Penal
Code, however, those with a parole period of longer than two years will become automati-
cally subject to probation supervision during their parole period. This provision started to
take effect for those released in 2018 (hence it did not affect our sample).
The follow-up of our participants took place in Bucharest and the surrounding areas
(Ilfov or Giurgiu counties) and lasted for one year (most of 2016, beginning of 2017.)
Work in the literature
Employment is one of the major correlates of desistance from crime (Duwe, 2015; Farrall
and Calverley, 2006; Laub and Sampson, 2001; Lipsey, 1995). As such, employment
represents ‘an investment in the conventional world’ (Meisenhelder, 1977: 327) or a part
of the so-called ‘respectability package’ (Giordano et al., 2002). Others argue that,
although employment plays a role in desistance, its impact is not direct (Gottfredson and
Hirschi, 1990; Haines, 1990; McCord, 1990) or at least they argue that it is not decisive
in itself (Aaltonen, 2016; Visher and Courtney, 2006). Paradoxically, both conclusions
may be right, mainly because they understand employment using different evaluation
methodologies and without conceptualizing the nature and significance of employment
in more detail (for example, job stability, job intensity, occupational level, as well as
what employment means to the individual concerned). The employment–desistance rela-
tionship is often very complex and is shaped by many other aspects of people’s identity,
age, social structure and so on. Uggen (1996), for instance, argues that providing mar-
ginal work for those over 27 is associated with desistance, whereas offering work for
those under 27 has little impact on future criminal behaviour. Ex-prisoners working in
high-quality jobs seem to be less likely to reoffend (Uggen, 1999). In a later study, Uggen
and Staff (2001) concluded that employment is an important factor in desistance but only
if work is meaningful and satisfactory. The positive prospects of future legal earnings
appear also to reduce involvement in criminal activities (Pezzin, 1995; Shapland and
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