The article is written and published by a team of three authors – D’Alessio, Stolzenberg, and Eitle – in 2013. All of them occupy positions at universities and deal with issues related to criminal justice, which makes them reputable enough to pay close attention to their work. The main focus of the article is made on investigating whether there is the connection between the unemployment rate and the risks of repeat offending. The work is completed based on the prejudice that higher unemployment rates increase the risks of criminal offenses, and, in the case of those already involved in criminal activities, the risks are even more critical. In other words, high unemployment rate is associated with high risks of repeat offending. Regardless of this generally acceptable belief, the authors conclude that the impact of unemployment is nearly the same for both first-time and repeat offenders, and I do agree with their conclusions because unemployment and economic conditions related to it are not the only factors resulting in the increased willingness to get involved in criminal activities.
Reading the article, my thoughts were ambiguous, and I had to organize my ideas thoroughly to come to the conclusion that I do agree with the authors’ views. I have to admit that the materials presented were too complicated for me to understand, so I had to re-read the article for several times to get to the researchers’ point. More than that, occasionally, I thought that the article had nothing in common with the real world, and now, as I have arranged my ideas, I believe that I was driven by the prejudice towards people with criminal records. The latter can be explained by the fact that I read several articles that were based on the statistics proving that higher unemployment rates motivate involvement into criminal activities, especially repeat offenses. This knowledge kept me biased, so I could not understand and perceive the authors’ arguments objectively.
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The belief that the researchers are right is based on their unique approach to viewing the connection between unemployment rates and criminal offenses. For instance, they draw the line between different unemployment rates: the situation with low unemployment rate is characterized by the generally increasing willingness to hire people with desired skills regardless of their criminal records, while during conditions of higher unemployment rates, this option is ignored. Yet it is true that deteriorating economic conditions are inseparable from higher offense rates when the unemployment rate is extremely high, there is no deterioration in the statistics of criminal offenses. That being said, the authors masterfully prove that there is a clear borderline that pushes people to commit crimes, and it is the beginning of the economic deterioration.
All in all, the article considered offers a new way to view the link between the economic health of the labor market and risks of criminal offenses. To be specific, it is applicable to the modern world because it indirectly affects people with criminal records as well as those developing crime prevention policies. The researchers lay a credible foundation for improving the strategies aimed at reducing crime rates because they prove that focus on skills instead of criminal records is what actually helps reintegrate first-time offenders into the labor market. Moreover, they prove that enhancing labor market (increasing wages and guaranteeing protection and governmental support in case of getting fired) is a perfect option for preventing both first-time and repeat offenses because the material motives for committing crimes are eliminated. That being said, regardless of the initial ambiguous reactions, the article is a well-developed and presented piece of information that could be used for improving the society and supporting those belonging to risk groups.
