Reintegration with a Profession: The Value of Cosmetology Training in the Correctional Setting

• In Event: Women and Prisoner Reentry

Abstract

Successful inmate reintegration into society has always proven to be challenging. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, two-thirds of released inmates will be rearrested for one or more crimes, including felonies and serious misdemeanors, within three years of their release from prison (Travis, 2005). For the female inmate, many of whom bring few marketable skills into the institution when confined, face a bleak future in the “free-world” if reentering unprepared to gain employment and become self-sustaining. This paper focuses upon cosmetology programs providing vocational training within two state level correctional facilities holding a female inmate population, the curriculum offered, success rate of licensing program graduates, rate of employment in the field upon release and recidivism rate of program graduates. This is a limited study examining cosmetology programs in institutions in Mississippi and Tennessee. Data for this paper was collect through institutional visits, web based literature review and telephone interviews.

Authors

• Leisa S. McElreath, Mississippi Board of Cosmetology

• Lorri C. Williamson, University of Mississippi

• Terry P. Lyons, University of Mississippi