Introduction: Why Apply Vocational Psychology to Criminal Justice Populations?

The criminal justice population has experienced exponential growth in recent decades. Yet, counseling and vocational psychology has not kept pace in addressing the vocational needs of this population. A recent literature search in counseling and vocational journals found that in the last quarter century, only 14 articles have been published that focus on this topic. Among these, even fewer are focused on developing effective vocational interventions for this population. The articles in this major contribution endeavor to begin filling this gap by (a) demonstrating the need and applicability for applying counseling and vocational psychology in developing vocational interventions for the criminal justice population, (b) providing an example and initial empirical findings of a vocational intervention used with this population, and (c) informing readers of best practices in interdisciplinary research for theoretical integration to work with this population.