According to Koltai (2016), joblessness, not religious or cultural conflict, is the root cause of the unrest that threatens global security. Though this may be contested, Rupprecht (2019) reports that during the Geneva Peace Week, it was concluded that sustainable peace needs a “stable economic climate that can simultaneously prevent the outbreak of violent conflict and proactively foster peaceful societies.” She also reported that job creation is the best antidote to war and that employment improves integration and gives people dignity. Under such circumstances, entrepreneurship may be seen to be capable of contributing to peace through, in particular, its ability to create jobs (Birch (1979). Accordingly, entrepreneurship and self-employment have become the alternative to unemployment in many economies. However, criminality remains and, with it, a threat to peace and security. Many prison inmates have difficulty securing employment on release, however, and recidivism (re-offending is high, as much as 50% in the USA and 62.7 % in the UK, thus threatening peace and security.
Accordingly, prison systems have begun to introduce new venture-creation programs. In Germany, such a program is reported to have reduced recidivism from 46 to 11 percent. In contrast, in the U.K. a program developed by the Centre for Entrepreneurs in London has reduced repeat offending from 62.7 % to 14%. Such programs positively impact SDG 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions), as are private sector entrepreneurial ventures that are beginning to emerge with the specific intention of reducing reoffending and reoffending even more safely
Under such circumstances, entrepreneurship education may be seen as contributing to peace not just through the creation of jobs but by addressing such interconnected contributory factors as health, inequality, poverty, etc.
Aims and Methodology
This study aims to demonstrate how entrepreneurship can advance humanity and peace by rehabilitating ex-offenders. It does so via an inductive investigation based on a series of cases derived from secondary data. Each case is taken from the U.K.where the importance of SDG 16 (the Promotion of Peaceful and Inclusive Societies for Sustainable Development) is often taken for granted or unrecognized, and ongoing criminality is the cause of considerable and increasing unrest.
Cases
According to the Numbeo Crime Index, the UK index figure for 2023 is 46.9, placing the country 65th in the world for crime. By comparison, the USA has an index of 49.0, putting it in 55th place, while France is in 36th place with an index of 55.3. The U.K. prison population in February 2023 was 83,687, costing the U.K .taxpayer $4 billion annually. On release, 8 percent of ex-offenders reoffend within six months, costing an estimated £18.1 billion annually. Many offenders have failed to obtain minimum standards of education. On average, 62 percent of those entering prison have the literacy skills of an 11-year-old, compared with 15 percent in the general adult population.
Read More at the ICSB Global MSMEs Report
Article by:
Professor David A Kirby,
Honorary Professor of Practice, the University of Wales Trinity Saint David and co-Founder Harmonious Entrepreneurship Ltd
and
Dr. Felicity Healey-Benson
Enterprise Champion, the University of Wales Trinity Saint David and co-Founder Harmonious Entrepreneurship Ltd
