In this study, the Co-PI, under the supervision of the PI, extends considerations of unemployment to include the experience of American Indian men, using in-depth interviews and ethnographic observation with respondents living on and off-reservation to answer the question: how do tribal fathers with criminal records manage the process of finding work? In collaboration with the Yurok Tribal Court, the Co-PI uses a descriptive, narrative-based account to show how tribal fathers with criminal records draw on their world renewal worldview, strong labor force attachment, and thick social networks to identify and secure formal employment. In spite of these labor market strengths, the extreme frequency of trauma and substance use across the sample constrained individual job-seeking, particularly for those looking for work in slack on-reservation labor markets. The Co-PI found that those tribal fathers who first got sober from drugs and alcohol were then able to secure work and meet their obligations as fathers and providers, and in doing so, exemplified contemporary processes of resilience on and off-reservation.

The four substantive chapters of the dissertation detail the world renewal worldview that differentiates this sample from those previously studied in urban areas (Liebow 1967, Maruna 2001, Smith 2007, Wilson 1987, 1996, Young 2003), an important contribution as it frames how the men conceive of individual responsibility, their relationship to the collective, and their expectation to provide. This pro-work orientation is in tension with the extreme exposure to adverse experiences and substance use that clusters on-reservation. Despite great obstacles otherwise, respondents were able to secure formal employment and doing so embodies the process of “survivance” whereby Native peoples are active participants in their day-to-day outcomes rather than hapless victims of historical circumstance (Ross 1996, Vizenor 2008). Finally, irrespective of employment status, tribal fathers described intense involvement with their family units, and understood their responsibilities to their families and to their communities through the lessons derived from their worldview and extended kin networks.

With this contribution, the Co-PI expands on previous understandings of how orientations inform actions (Young 2003), in this case showing how the reservation and its corresponding world renewal worldview influences job-seeking behaviors and other aspects of the men’s lives like fatherhood and personal well-being (Duck 2015). In doing so, she adds a new lens to studies of concentrated disadvantage (Sampson 2012, Sharkey 2013, Wilson 1987, 1996) by describing how the “reservation” represents both a physical space and a social institution that shapes employment outcomes. Finally, her findings nuance considerations of how social networks, informal employment, and mental health conspire to shape male labor force attachment (Smith 2007, Holzer 1996). Building on this contribution, the Co-PI advocates for policies that enhance access to mental health resources as a first-order concern when it comes to integrating those with criminal histories into the workforce. She found that employment is a secondary concern to personal wellbeing, and that those in active addiction are at-times physically and mentally incapable of honoring their social and economic responsibilities. The Co-PI underscores the need for dual diagnosis treatment centers to help those with co-occurring disorders like substance use and post-traumatic stress disorder to first get well before they find work. Going further, she urges employers and tribal governments alike to strongly reconsider the adoption of stringent background checks that unnecessarily bar those with criminal histories from the applicant pool.

During the study period, Co-PI Blythe George completed all data collection for the dissertation, including in-depth interviews and ethnographic observation of the tribal court, ceremonial dance observances, and community events. Over the course of the project, she secured over 130 hours of audio data with 35 tribal fathers with criminal records, representing a rich data source on a virtually unstudied population. In addition, she compiled observational field notes for any substantive encounter in the field or with the Tribal Court. This included all phone calls, visits to the reservation, court observations and respondent interviews, with over 340 accrued observational hours over the course of the funding period. She began data analysis in September 2018, and has been drafting full-time since November 2018, with an expected March 2020 degree date.

The primary byproduct of this project is the Co-PI’s dissertation, Tribal Lands, Tribal Men, Tribal Responsibilities: How Fathers with Criminal Records Find Work On and Off-Reservation. This dissertation serves as the foundation for her book manuscript on processes of adversity and resilience on tribal reservations. The Co-PI will also revise the four substantive chapters of the dissertation for journal submission, and draft a methodological article on qualitative research with sensitive populations like tribal fathers. Finally, the Co-PI leveraged her contributions to secure a postdoctoral position for 2019-2021 with the UC Berkeley President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program to work with Prof. Sandra Smith, where Ms. George will continue her work on the intersection between unemployment and crime on tribal reservations.

Last Modified: 07/24/2019
Modified by: Blythe George