Volume 95, Issue 4

Abstract

Abstract

Prior research showed us that ex-convicts often experience difficulties obtaining legal employment. Yet, employment is especially salient for ex-convicts as employment is related to lower recidivism rates. Therefore, a better understanding of the employment opportunities of ex-convicts is important for society. The current study uses a field experiment to gain insight into the employment opportunities of this group. A total of 1174 application letters and cv’s were sent to potential employers. All potential employers received two applications: one mentioned a conviction and one did not mention a conviction. The two applicants only differed on their conviction, they had similar qualifications, had the same gender and ethnical background. The results showed that employers overall were consistent in their reaction towards individuals with identical qualifications. For women, a conviction showed to have significant influence on the employers’ reaction. In general, applicants with a non-western minority background received less positive reactions regardless the criminal record. These results seem to imply a multiple stigma for ex-convicts. Being a woman and having a non-wester minority background can result in diminished employment opportunities.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.5117/MEM2020.4.003.VAND
2020-11-01
2024-03-29
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/00259454/95/4/03_MEM2020.4_VAND.html?itemId=/content/journals/10.5117/MEM2020.4.003.VAND&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

References

  1. Agan, A. Y., & Starr, S. B.(2017). The effect of criminal records on access to employment. American Economic Review, 107(5), 560-564.
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Agan, A., & Starr, S.(2018). Ban the Box, Criminal Records, and Racial Discrimination: A Field Experiment. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 133(1), 191-235.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Ahmed, A. M. & Lång, E.(2017). The employability of ex-offenders: a field experiment in the Swedish labor market. IZA Journal of Labor Policy, 6(6), 1-23.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Apel, B., & Sweeten, G.(2010). The impact of incarceration on employment during the transition to adulthood. Social Problems, 57(3), 448-479.
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Baert, S., & Verhofstadt, E.(2015). Labour market discrimination against former juvenile delinquents: Evidence from a field experiment. Applied Economics, 47(11), 1061-1072.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Becker, G. S.(1964). Human capital. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Becker, G. S.(1968). Crime and punishment: An economic analysis. Journal of Political Economy, 78, 169-2017.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Boshier, R., & Johnson, D.(1974). Does conviction affect employment opportunities?British Journal of Criminology, 14(3), 264-268.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Buikhuisen, W., & Dijksterhuis, F. P.(1969). Sollicitatiekansen van delinquenten. Tijdschrift voor Criminologie, 11(1), 50-58.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Bushway, S. D.(2004). Labor market effects of permitting employer access to criminal history records. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 20, 276-291.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Bushway, S. D., Stoll, M. A., & Weiman, D. F.(2007). Barriers to reentry? The labor market for released prisoners in post-industrial America. New York, NY: Russel Sage Foundation.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Cantora, A.(2015). Navigating the job search after incarceration: The experiences of work-release participants. Criminal Justice Studies, 28(2), 141-160.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Cornish, D. B., & Clarke, R. V.(2014). The reasoning criminal: Rational choice perspectives on offending. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Decker, S. H., Spohn, C., Ortiz, N. R., & Hedberg, E. (2014).Criminal stigma, race, gender and employment: An expanded assessment of the consequences of imprisonment for employment (nr. 244756). Geraadpleegd via https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/244756.pdf.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Deliens, L.(1983). Ongelijke sociale distributie van de tewerkstellingskansen van ex-gedetineerden. Panopticon, 4(6), 530-541.
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Dirkzwager, A., Blokland, A., Nannes, K., & Vroonland, M.(2015). Effecten van detentie op het vinden van werk en woning. Tijdschrift voor Criminologie, 57(1), 5-30.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Guryan, J., & Charles, K. K.(2013). Taste-based or statistical discrimination: The economics of discrimination returns to its roots. The Economic Journal, 123(572), 417-432.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Hirschfield, P. J., & Piquero, A. R.(2010). Normalization and legitimation: Modeling stigmatizing attitudes toward ex-offenders. Criminology, 48(1), 27-55.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Leasure, P.(2019). Misdemeanor records and employment outcomes: An experimental study. Crime & Delinquency, 65(13), 1767-1797.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. LeBel, T. P.(2012). ‘If one doesn’t get you another one will’: Formerly incarcerated persons’ perceptions of discrimination. The Prison Journal, 92(1), 63-87.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Maruschak, L. M.(2009). Medical problems of prisoners. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Mesters, G., Geest, V. R., van der, & Bijleveld, C. C. J. H.(2015). Crime, employment and social welfare: An individual-level study on disadvantaged males. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 32(2), 159-190.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Mumola, C. J., & Karberg, J. C.(2006). Drug use and dependence, state and federal prisoners, 2004. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Osgood, D. W., Wilson, J. K., Bachman, J. G., O’Malley, P. M., & Johnston, L. D.(1996). Routine activities and individual deviant behavior. American Sociological Review, 61(4), 635-655.
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Pager, D.(2003). The mark of a criminal record. American Journal of Sociology, 108(5), 937-975.
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Pager, D.(2007). Marked: Race, crime, and finding work in an era of mass incarceration. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Pager, D., Western, B., & Bonikowski, B. (2009a). Discrimination in a low-wage labor market: A field experiment. American Sociological Review, 74(5), 777-799.
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Pager, D., Western, B., & Sugie, N. (2009b). Sequencing disadvantage: Barriers to employment facing young black and white men with criminal records. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 623(1), 195-213.
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Ramos, M., Thijssen, L., & Coenders, M.(2019). Labour market discrimination against Moroccan minorities in the Netherlands and Spain: A cross-national and cross-regional comparison. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. Online first. DOI:10.1080/1369183X.2019.1622824
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Sampson, R. J., & Laub, J. H.(1993). Crime in the making: Pathways and turning points through life. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Schwartz, R. D., & Skolnick, J. H.(1962). Two studies of legal stigma. Social Problems, 10(2), 133-142.
    [Google Scholar]
  32. Small, M.L., & Pager, D.(2020). Sociological perspectives on racial discrimination. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 34 (2), 49-67.
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Steadman, H. J., Osher, F. C., Robbins, P. C., Case, B., & Samuels, S.(2009). Prevalence of serious mental illness among jail inmates. Psychiatric Services, 60(6), 761-765.
    [Google Scholar]
  34. Uggen, C.(2000). Work as a turning point in the life course of criminals: A duration model of age, employment, and recidivism. American Sociological Review, 65(4), 529-546.
    [Google Scholar]
  35. Van den Berg, C., Blommaert, L., Bijleveld, C., & Ruiter, S.(2017). Veroordeeld tot (g)een baan: Hoe delict- en persoonskenmerken arbeidsmarktkansen beïnvloeden. Tijdschrift voor Criminologie, 59(1), 113-135.
    [Google Scholar]
  36. Van den Berg, C., Blommaert, L., Bijleveld, C., & Ruiter, S.(2020). Employment opportunities for ex-offenders. A field experiment on how type of crime and applicants’ ethnic background affect employment opportunities for low-educated men in the Netherlands. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 65, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rssm.2020.100476.
    [Google Scholar]
  37. Van der Geest, V. R., Bijleveld, C. C. J. H., & Blokland, A. A. J.(2011). The effects of employment on longitudinal trajectories of offending: A follow up in high-risk youth from ages 18 to 32. Criminology, 49(4), 1195-1234.
    [Google Scholar]
  38. Visher, C. A., & Mallik-Kane, K.(2007). Reentry experiences of men with health problems. In: R. B.Greifinger (ed.). Public health behind bars: From prisons to communities (pp. 434-460). New York, NY: Springer.
    [Google Scholar]
  39. Wadsworth, T.(2006). The meaning of work: Conceptualizing the deterrent effect of employment on crime among young adults. Sociological Perspectives, 49(3), 343-368.
    [Google Scholar]
  40. Zschirnt, E., & Ruedin, D.(2016)Ethnic discrimination in hiring decisions: A meta-analysis of correspondence tests 1990-2015. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 42(7), 1115-1134.
    [Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.5117/MEM2020.4.003.VAND
Loading
/content/journals/10.5117/MEM2020.4.003.VAND
Loading

Data & Media loading...

Keyword(s): conviction; discrimination; employment opportunities; ethnicity; field experiment; gender

Most Cited Most Cited RSS feed