Impactos da capacitação profissional na reintegração social de egressos do sistema prisional: evidências de Santa Catarina

Impacts of Vocational Training on the Social Reintegration of Former Prisoners: Evidence from Santa Catarina

Abstract

This paper evaluates the impacts of Santa Catarina’s in-prison vocational training program on the post-release reintegration of former prisoners. We merge multiple administrative microdata sources to track a cohort of 6,591 eligible individuals released between 2013 and 2016, of whom 42% participated in the program. We construct an ordered reintegration indicator with three post-release outcomes—recidivism, no recidivism without formal employment, and no recidivism with formal employment—and estimate the average treatment effect on the treated (ATT) and on the eligible population (ATE) using an ordered probability model weighted by propensity-score inverse probability weights (IPW). On average, participation is associated with modest reductions in recidivism and similarly modest increases in the probability of the best outcome. However, these mean effects mask substantial heterogeneity. In facilities with higher-complexity workshops, the program reduces recidivism by about 10 percentage points and raises by up to 20 percentage points the likelihood of not reoffending and securing formal employment, with gains concentrated among individuals exposed to more sophisticated training. By contrast, in facilities with lower-complexity workshops—especially among first-time inmates—effects are null or even adverse, consistent with evidence of potential program capture by criminal gangs. The results suggest that the effectiveness of in-prison work and training programs depends critically on the quality of the opportunities offered and the institutional environment in which they operate, highlighting the central role of institutional design and prison governance.