...Qualitative...Criminology
Vote: Publish pending minor changes
[For votes to count, referees must reasonably explain why they voted as they did. Thus, please explain your vote. If you voted to publish pending minor changes, specify each change, why it is needed, and, possibly, how it should/could be done.]
Overall, I believe this is an excellent study that will make a great contribution to the literature on social support among offenders re-entering society. There are only a few minor changes that I would suggest. Most of these changes are in regard to clarity issues or grammar issues. I’ve outlined each specific change below. Once these issues are addressed, especially the grammar and references, then I believe it is suitable to be published.
Abstract:
I would add a sentence or two to the abstract that specifically mentions your sample.
Literature Review:
Define what you mean by “social capital” immediately after its introduction in the literature review.
Typo in literature review, misspelling of “females” (femalws). I would do a thorough check on grammar as there were a few issues throughout, especially with incorrect comma placement.
Be sure to have transition sentences between major sections to assist with the flow of the paper.
Method:
In the Method, provide some information on exactly how many interview transcripts were analyzed earlier on. It isn’t mentioned until the Participants section. Moreover, provide some more background information on the Triple-S: Social Supports in Supervision.
Provide some more information on the following: Are probationers and parolees required to do this? If so, is it everyone that is eligible or only a select few? If not, all are required, how are participants recruited? Is this available to offenders of all criminal backgrounds or are some excluded?
Results:
When presenting the numerical aspects of the findings, it would be helpful to also provide the total percentage that each number represented.
I would have transition sentences between each theme to assist with the overall flow of the paper.
One consideration that you may want to make would be to assign pseudonyms to the offenders instead of their number. This may help with the overall presentation of findings.
References:
Do a thorough check of all of your references. I noted several studies that were referenced in the body of the text, but not present in the reference section.