‘Livin’ on the Straights’: Identity, Desistance, and Work among Women Post-Incarceration

This study explores how a group of women recently released from prison as parolees attempt to sustain their exit from deviant careers by constructing replacement selves. Contrary to traditional gendered scripts, these women view themselves as active participants in the world of work. Upon release not only do they desire to work to meet financial needs, but they also use employment as an avenue through which they begin to construct pro-social replacement selves.