Poster #132 - Entrepreneurship as Reentry: Barriers and Pathways Among Formerly Incarcerated Entrepreneurs

• In Event: Poster Session II (posters 80 – 155)

Abstract

With nearly 70 million Americans carrying criminal records, formerly incarcerated individuals represent a substantial yet underserved entrepreneurial population who face significant barriers to conventional employment, making entrepreneurship a common viable economic path after release. Yet this population remains largely overlooked in criminal justice research. Drawing on longitudinal qualitative interviews, this study develops a grounded process model of post-incarceration entrepreneurship. Preliminary findings highlight necessity-driven entry, informal networks as substitutes for institutional resources, and the ways incarceration can paradoxically build entrepreneurial resilience. Spousal support and reentry environment quality also emerge as meaningful influences on venture trajectories. This research adds to the entrepreneurship and corrections research literature.

Authors

• Dev Aggarwal, University of Texas at Arlington

• Oo Pyayt, University of Texas at Arlington