Contributing to Theory: Independent, Mediating, Moderating and Dependent Variables - Essay Example

This because without money one cannot survive in today’s world in which money is necessary in order to acquire life’s basic needs. Employment has been touted as a significant contributor to rising levels of crime in society. This paper seeks to highlight various journal articles that contribute to the theory on independent and dependent variables (IV & DV), mediating, and moderating variables. These variables will be discussed in light of their relation to the research question querying the effect of employment on reducing barriers to offender reentry and recidivism.

In a society where there are high levels of unemployment, there are likely to be high rates of crime because most people do not have a means of earning a living. This translates to lack of money, which is needed to purchase people’s daily basic needs like food, water and shelter. Majority of crimes are perpetrated towards satisfying the need for money, but there also exists other forms of crimes that are based on delinquency on the part of juveniles. Crimes of passion are also common in the domestic setting, with terrorist activities being classified along these lines.

Recidivism and reentry to criminal activities is caused by various factors like peer pressure and inadequate rehabilitation policies in respective societies. The life that an offender goes back to, after incarceration and rehabilitation, acts a significant indicator of their chances of receding into crime. Employment is a key factor, when it comes to offender reentry and recidivism, because it determines whether the individual will be able to support and take responsibility for their life. Alternatively, will they be forced, by circumstances, to result to criminal activities to earn a living?

There are various IV, DV, mediating and moderating variables that have been the subject of research studies regarding their influence on employment and crime (Fairchild & Mackinnon, 2009). A key construct in the journal article ‘Reentry and the Ties that Bind: An Examination of Social Ties, Employment and Recidivism’, are the social ties of an offender reentering society (Berg & Huebner, 2011). Researchers in this study found out that offenders who maintained social ties with their families and obtained steady work were less likely to recidivate (Berg & Huebner, 2011).

In this research study, social ties represented the IV while employment and recidivism denoted the DV. According to Berg and Huebner, the main construct behind the theory was that familial ties could operate, through employment, to influence recidivism, and act as moderating variables. The research study used a conceptual framework to test the hypothesis relating to the link between employment, recidivism and familial ties (Trochim & Donnelly, 2008). The constructs of this research study were operationalized through the hypothesis testing which garnered results that supported the construct behind the study.

The findings illustrated that social ties especial familial ones had significant implications for both recidivism, employment (Berg & Huebner, 2011). The moderating effects of social or familial ties have on recidivism, and reentry through employment is clearly illustrated in this research study. The results effectively suggest the significant importance of good quality social ties in alleviating offender reentry challenges and recidivism. A research study was conducted under the title, “