Delgado Examines the Role of Prisoner Reentry at Work in New Book

Dr. Melvin Delgado, professor and chair of macro practice at the Boston University School of Social Work and co-director of the Center for Addiction Research and Services, has published a new book called, “Prisoner Reentry at Work: Adding Business to the Mix.” This will add to his library of 10 published books.

Research on the Reentry Process
Convicted offenders need jobs when they leave prison— but few people want to hire them. Spotlighting this sensitive issue, Dr. Delgado explores the potential role of business enterprises in providing work to former prisoners and helping them to reconnect with their home communities.

Dr. Delgado documents the unconventional approaches of nonprofit businesses that deliberately and exclusively hire former inmates. He finds that employers can play a multifaceted role in helping ex-convicts to face life “on the outside”— beyond wages, for example, they may offer skill training, mentoring and social support. As he evaluates the successes and failures reflected in his case studies, he provides a window on the complex interplay of social, economic and institutional factors that can encourage, or prevent, a successful reentry process.

“The time is past due for a book of this nature. It goes beyond traditional policy and program responses for ex-offender reentry to propose a unique social enterprise approach,” said Kristin M. Ferguson-Colvin, Ph.D., associate professor, Hunter College, and a colleague of Dr. Delgado’s.