‘What to do when the grills open?’ Entrepreneurial motivations and individual beliefs of former convicts

Study Objective: To investigate the entrepreneurial motivations and individual beliefs of former convicts from prison in Ceará regarding opening their own business, according to the theory of planned behavior (TPB). Methodology/Approach: A qualitative research was carried out with eleven former convicts from the Ceará prison system. The data collected through semi-structured interviews were analyzed by Atlas-ti software, using the content analysis pattern matching technique. Results: The former convicts expressed their intention to open their own business based on three motivations: by necessity, by opportunity, and by personal achievement. The interviewees' entrepreneurial intention was influenced by three types of salient belief: behavioral, normative, and perceived control. Theoretical/Methodological contributions: This research promotes and expands the discussion on entrepreneurship after a period of deprivation of liberty, using the TPB to identify the beliefs that precede the entrepreneurial intention. Relevance/Originality: Findings oppose the dichotomous classification of entrepreneurial motivation described by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. The study endorses the important influence of social referents in the construction of normative beliefs, which were perceived as facilitators of behavioral intention, being confused with beliefs of perceived control. Social contributions: Recognizing the low employability of former convicts as a management problem can be the beginning of a debate on strategies that seek to minimize the negative impacts of their low employability. This study is an invitation to discuss joint efforts between public authorities, the population, and academia, to mitigate prejudices that imprison former offenders and society.