Why Do Employers Have Criminal Convictions?

This spurs questions in regards the effectiveness of the process in reacclimating and preparing criminals to become functioning members of society after their sentence, as well as the intense limitations that having a felony on record has on their success in the regular business world, as the competitive marketplace considers reforming felons generally undesirable for the workplace, pushing reforming criminals towards the world of illegal activities they know

Why do I believe you should hire a felon? It’s been said that when somebody has something to prove, they will move mountains for you. How much does an individual coming out of a situation such as prison have to prove? Plenty. Not only to you as an employer, not only to society in general, but also to his family and everyone else who doesn’t believe that someone who has been imprisoned can make anything of themselves in life. President Kennedy stated in an article titled, Address to the American Newspaper Publishers, "An error does not become a mistake until you refuse to correct it. We intend to accept full responsibility for our errors; and we expect you to point them out when we miss them”

One of the main barriers that inmates face when they are released from prison is limited cognitive skills, limited education and work experience, and substance abuse or other mental health problems. Substance abuse and other mental health problems limit employability because it limits the job readiness that is required for employment (Holzer, Raphael & Stoll, 2003). Another issue that is faced when inmates are released into society is that any skills that they did have prior to conviction has diminished greatly and they face lower pay due to their diminished or lack of skills, and the attitudes that have been developed during their time in prison deeply affects their attitude during their search for employment. Offenders also face another barrier when searching for employment. Many businesses can be held legally liable for any criminal action that their employees may cause (Holzer, Raphael & Stoll, 2003). These barriers that offenders face upon release is why solid solutions and planning must be implemented when considering the integration of ex-felons into society and preparation for reentry must begin well before the scheduled release date in order to successfully reintegrate an inmate into society and reduce the rate of recidivism.

One of the primary problems in Kentucky is the unemployment rate of people with criminal backgrounds that caused the use of 'ban the box’ by employers in all but one city in Kentucky and among many other states. Former inmates often face restrictions in different situations that may include housing, voting and employment (Hoskins, 2014). The problem does not affect only those people in Kentucky, but also other states in the United States and even in other countries. The majority of the employers show reluctance to absorb people who have criminal records. Some of the studies show that more than half of the employers will discriminate an individual due to their incarceration records (NIJ, 2013). Even in a situation that they find employment,

A problem I have noticed in my community is homelessness. A portion of the homeless is due to being unable to rent a house because of having a criminal history. According to the Pierce County Homeless Point-in-Time Report there were 1526 cases of homelessness reported in the county this does not count the induvial people it is measured by head of households. 73% of those cases reported that the head of house hold had a criminal history.

Incarceration can sabotage a worker’s success in the working force by making them less productive, lack work experience, and impaired social interactions. Employers are less likely to hire an applicant with a criminal record because of the preconceived notion that by serving time in prison it makes inmates less productive. Also, time incarcerated and away from the labor force prevents inmates from earning work experience and job skills. According to Amanda Geller in The Effects of Incarceration on Employment and Wages “behavioral adaptations to the conditions of penal confinement may leave an inmate withdrawn, uncommunicative, and unable to accept

These include not just parole, also probation or drug court. The easiest way of violating one of the community programs above is employment. It is not just a suggestion; it’s a requirement to remain to one’s freedom. Which is uncovered challenging, and in this day and time nearly unrealistic! Not only due to today’s economy; also due to that bad choice(s) or a criminal history can make finding employment difficult. NIJ (National Institute of Justice) found that a criminal record reduces the likelihood of a job or offer by over 50%! (Solomon) With another study showing that 92% of employers use some sort of background check. With any kind of simple arrest or criminal history (even if it didn’t lead to a conviction.) that shows quite a problem. So being on a community corrections program and the conditions of the job employment is very discouraging to more than half of those sentenced to these programs. Recidivism is bound to occur for most

Would-be employers frown heavily on felony convictions. Family members who are law abiding citizens may ostracize felons. Punishing offenders in these ways can ultimately slow recovery. All we seem to be providing is a continual revolving door for offenders. “Most drug prisoners will return to the community after a couple years away, and will then return to prison because we have not dealt with the complex set of core issues that lead to them ending up incarcerated in the first place” (McVay). We cannot simply arrest our way out of the nation’s drug problem. There must be programs developed which incorporate the structure of prison along with individualized rehabilitation.

1538). If a federal law were to be enacted it should follow the guidelines that Weissert (2016) advocates. Instead of allowing employers to ask about criminal history in the interview stage the employers should have to wait until a conditional offer of employment has been made (Weissert, 2016, p. 1552). The employer should consider the nature of the crime, the time elapsed since conviction, and the positon the applicant is applying for (Weissert, 2016, p. 1552). Discriminating on the basis of criminal history increased the rates of recidivism and has a greater impact on Afircan American and Hispanic males (Weissert, 2016, p. 1531). Ban the Box might not be the solution for the issue of discriminating on the basis of an applicant’s criminal history, but it is a step in the right

Mass incarceration is such a factor. It is a general term; however, because of the “historically extreme rates of incarceration” in the United States, mass incarceration today is almost explicably linked with American society (Wildeman). The rates of incarceration are in fact extreme in America as it has only 5% of the world’s population within its borders, but 25% of the world’s prison population (“Mass Incarceration”). This prison population is troubling when data shows that the people who make up this group, made 41% less money annually before they were imprisoned than people who are not imprisoned (Rabuy). Assuming these people are eventually released from prison, entering the workforce, even just to regain the little that they earned before incarceration, is near impossible. According to Dr. Devah Pager, “A snapshot of ex-offenders one year after release reveals a rocky path of reintegration, with rates of joblessness in excess of 75 percent and rates of rearrest close to 45 percent,” (xx). This is mostly because of the criminal record, which is a form of a label that these people must take with them on any job hunt. Employers rarely knowingly hire persons with criminal records, and are not willing to take the time to learn the situations of the incarceration, or even what the conviction was (Pager xix). Not only this, but when the American prison system is analyzed by race it can be determined that one in three black men and one in six Latino men will be imprisoned in their lifetime, while just one in 17 white men will meet the same fate (“Mass Incarceration”). Therefore, in America not only are racial minorities disproportionately poor, but also disproportionately

Phillip it is clear that you have a complete explanation of the back ground requirement that so many employers utilize to classify potential employees. Yet with this classification many very capable candidates are quickly eliminated for either old run in’s with the law or youthful ignorance. To this end, we as a society have alienated the youth who have fallen into the trap of conviction of a crime. Clearly it is not necessary to penalize people who have repaid their debt to society for their life making them unfit for hire. The question is what is the answer to solve this injustice that is imposed on these candidates? In my view companies could have what they call a conditional hire that would go longer for a year than a traditional 90 day

A history of incarceration reduces an ex-felon’s chance of being hired by fifteen to thirty percent as well as the annual number of weeks worked by six to eleven weeks. That is a large amount of people! This is a big problem that is not to be dismissed. Having been incarcerated leads to struggles in finding a job. Some employers do not even consider hiring people with any kind of criminal record, they are much more likely to hire someone without one instead (Prison Legal News). These statistics and studies show that unemployment rates are in fact higher for

The concept of career criminals varies depending on your interpretation. The United States Sentencing Commission defines a career criminal as

Is jail time necessarily a true deterrent to white-collar criminals? Why or why not? Give examples, with explanations supporting your examples.

Everyone deserves a second chance. You should never judge a book by its cover. These are some of the things that should be considered when an employer considers hiring an ex-offender reentering society after release from the prison system. Once a criminal, always a criminal is not always the case. Some ex-offenders have proven to be loyal and trustworthy employees. As well as tax-paying individual who open their own businesses. There are positives and negatives to hiring someone with a criminal background. There are many concerns by employers to hire an ex-offender, such as negligent hiring. An ex offender is a person who has been convicted of criminal offense. Over 600,000 people are being released from prisons