Green Jobs for Returning Citizens: A Solution to the Interwoven Problems of Climate Change and Recidivism

Abstract

Climate change is dismantling social protections through both direct effects of disasters and theindirect consequences as communities attempt to recover, which often exacerbates trauma andparallel known risk factors for recidivism among returning citizens. As a discipline, social workmust wholly recognize the links between environmental injustice and other primary factors ofinequality such as race and class, which also increases the likelihood of incarceration followedby re-entry into society. Green jobs programs can allow society to address two seeminglydisparate issues: recidivism and climate change, offering practical and mutually beneficialsolutions. By building on the decarceration movement’s efforts and following examples fromLos Angeles and Chicago, the field of social work can continue to advocate for green jobs as anopportunity to lead climate change and recidivism mitigation discourse while simultaneouslyoffering solutions to the most pressing issues of our time. The authors argue that this form ofmultisolving on micro, mezzo, and macro levels is the future of the field.