Employer attitudes toward hiring ex-offenders

Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je ispitati odnos između stavova poslodavaca o osuđenicima i zapošljavanja. U prvom dijelu rada prikazana je teorijska podloga na kojoj se temelji istraživanje te prikaz dosadašnjih istraživanja. U drugom dijelu rada prikazani su rezultati provedenog istraživanja a koje je provedeno s poslodavcima na području Republike Hrvatske tijekom kolovoza 2022. godine. U istraživanju, koje je provedeno online upitnikom proslijeđenim putem e-mail adresa poslodavcima koji su u trenutku slanja upitnika imali objavljen oglas za posao na stranicama Hrvatskog zavoda za zapošljavanje, sudjelovalo je ukupno N=100 ispitanika. Proslijeđeni upitnik sadržavao je pitanja o sociodemografskim podacima, pitanja o djelatnosti koju poslodavci obavljaju, pitanja koja su ispitivala odnos poslodavaca prema zatvorenicima te validiranu skalu stavova prema zatvorenicima (A Scale to Measure Attitudes toward Prisoners, Melvin, K. B., Gramling, L. K., & Gardner, W. M., 1985.). Rezultati provedenog istraživanja potvrđuju da postoji statistički značajna povezanost između stavova poslodavaca prema osuđenicima i spremnosti poslodavaca na zapošljavanje bivših zatvorenika. Također, rezultati su pokazali da ne postoji razlika u spremnosti poslodavaca na zapošljavanje bivših zatvorenika s obzirom na završen stupanj obrazovanja i spol, ali je utvrđena razlika u spremnosti poslodavaca na zapošljavanje bivših zatvorenika s obzirom na kazneno djelo koje su počinili pri čemu su poslodavci u manjoj mjeri spremni zaposliti bivšeg zatvorenika ako je djelo koje je zatvorenik počinio povezano s djelatnosti koju poslodavac obavlja. Rezultati jasno pokazuju kako je zaposlenje po izlasku iz tretmana važan čimbenik u reintegraciji te da stavovi poslodavaca prema osuđenicima mogu biti velika prepreka u tom procesu. Stoga proizlazi da će upoznavanje društva, posebno poslodavaca, s izazovima s kojima se suočavaju zatvorenici nakon izlaska iz zatvora, kao i o važnosti zapošljavanja kao ključnog koraka u sprječavanju kriminalnog povrata, pospješiti zapošljavanje bivših zatvorenika te njihovu reintegraciju.
The aim of this paper was to examine the relationship between employers' attitudes toward prisoners and their employment. First part of the paper presents the theoretical background that was used as a basis for this research along with the reviews of some of the previous research pieces. The second part of the paper presents the results of the research conducted with the employers in the Republic of Croatia during August 2022. A total of N=100 respondents took part in the research, that was conducted via an online questionnaire sent to the e-mail addresses of the employers who, at the time of sending the questionnaire, had a job advertisement published on the website of the Croatian Employment Service. The questionnaire contained questions about socio-demographic data, the type of business that employers perform, questions about the relationship of the employers and prisoners, and a valid scale of attitudes towards prisoners (A Scale to Measure Attitudes towards Prisoners, Melvin, K. B., Gramling, L. K., & Gardner, W.M., 1985). The results of the research confirmed that there is a statistically significant connection between employers' attitudes towards prisoners and their willingness to employ ex-convicts. What is more, the results showed that there is no difference in their willingness to employ ex-prisoners regarding the completed level of education and gender, but there was a difference with regards to the criminal offence they committed, with employers being less willing to employ a former prisoner if the crime committed was related to the type of the employer's business. The results clearly show that post-treatment employment is an important factor in reintegration and that employers' attitudes towards convicts can be a significant obstacle in this process. Hence, it can be noticed that familiarizing society, especially employers, with the challenges prisoners face after leaving prison, as well as the importance of employment as one of the key steps in preventing criminal recidivism, will encourage employment of ex-prisoners and their reintegration.