First Advisor

Dr. John Guiduck

Second Advisor

Dr. James Ponzi

College

College of Contemporary Liberal Studies

Degree Name

MS Criminology

Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

Number of Pages

39 pages

Abstract

This paper focuses on whether or not it would be beneficial to implement educational courses on social media within prisons in order to prepare prisoners for release, improve post-release unemployment rates, and improve recidivism rates in the United States. Since the early 1990s, technology has grown to a point where it has become a part of everyone’s daily life, which includes social media platforms (Greenstein, 2012). While society has adapted to these advancements, prisoners who have been removed from society for many years are unable to achieve the same levels of social media comprehension, which can cause disparity between their skill levels and preparedness for release. If society has an expectation for ex-prisoners to assimilate seamlessly, it would be beneficial if prisons aided prisoners by keeping them updated in the necessary skills needed to be successful post-release. This paper will discuss background information and past research to provide in-depth knowledge on social media, social media advancements, current prison programs, studies that have looked into social media within prisons, and statistics on the success rate of securing employment opportunities through social media. The analysis of past research will support whether or not implementing educational courses on social media within prisons can be beneficial in improving unemployment rates among ex-prisoners, which could improve recidivism rates long term due to the inter-connectivity between the two.

Date of Award

Summer 2019

Location (Creation)

Colorado (state); Denver (county); Denver (inhabited place)

Rights Statement

All content in this Collection is owned by and subject to the exclusive control of Regis University and the authors of the materials. It is available only for research purposes and may not be used in violation of copyright laws or for unlawful purposes. The materials may not be downloaded in whole or in part without permission of the copyright holder or as otherwise authorized in the “fair use” standards of the U.S. copyright laws and regulations.

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