Pub Date : 2022-05-01DOI: 10.1177/00027162221099291
Bryan L. Sykes, M. Ballard, Daniela Kaiser, Vicente Celestino Mata, J. Sharry, Justin Sola
Obtaining employment is a major barrier to social reintegration for people on probation or parole. Research on the reentry process identifies several mechanisms that accentuate difficulties in locating work, including human capital development, structural changes in the labor market, and onerous probation and parole conditions. In this article, we review theories that explain low labor market participation rates among people reentering society, and we draw on multiple sources of data to identify the types of jobs that are available to people with low human capital. We find that nearly a quarter of people in America’s state and federal prisons had permanently removed themselves from the formal labor market before their most recent arrest; however, exclusionary hiring practices in the formal labor market often push those carrying the stigma of a criminal record into underground or informal labor markets, where wage rates are markedly higher than the federal minimum wage. Our findings demonstrate that severe and chronic employment struggles often predate and follow incarceration. We provide a detailed discussion of policy reform proposals that could help to remedy this harmful dynamic.
{"title":"Barred: Labor Market Dynamics and Human Capital Development among People on Probation and Parole","authors":"Bryan L. Sykes, M. Ballard, Daniela Kaiser, Vicente Celestino Mata, J. Sharry, Justin Sola","doi":"10.1177/00027162221099291","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00027162221099291","url":null,"abstract":"Obtaining employment is a major barrier to social reintegration for people on probation or parole. Research on the reentry process identifies several mechanisms that accentuate difficulties in locating work, including human capital development, structural changes in the labor market, and onerous probation and parole conditions. In this article, we review theories that explain low labor market participation rates among people reentering society, and we draw on multiple sources of data to identify the types of jobs that are available to people with low human capital. We find that nearly a quarter of people in America’s state and federal prisons had permanently removed themselves from the formal labor market before their most recent arrest; however, exclusionary hiring practices in the formal labor market often push those carrying the stigma of a criminal record into underground or informal labor markets, where wage rates are markedly higher than the federal minimum wage. Our findings demonstrate that severe and chronic employment struggles often predate and follow incarceration. We provide a detailed discussion of policy reform proposals that could help to remedy this harmful dynamic.","PeriodicalId":48352,"journal":{"name":"Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science","volume":"701 1","pages":"28 - 45"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2022-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42225018","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-01DOI: 10.1177/00027162221119952
Hakim Nathaniel Crampton
The American criminal justice system was built upon the premise of holding its citizens accountable for violations of law and upon being adjudicated and after having paid their prescribed punishment by a Court of Law, such citizens would be recognized as having “paid their debt” to society. However historical precedent has shown that very little of that premise has been practised. Instead citizens deemed felons of the law are perpetually punished by a series of lifetime collateral consequences, translating into an almost bar on access to employment and housing and other public rights. Expungement, or setting aside those convictions for people who’ve “paid their debt to society” is a clear pathway to increased access to employment for persons with a criminal record.
{"title":"Paying a Debt to Society: Expunging Criminal Records as a Pathway to Increased Employment","authors":"Hakim Nathaniel Crampton","doi":"10.1177/00027162221119952","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00027162221119952","url":null,"abstract":"The American criminal justice system was built upon the premise of holding its citizens accountable for violations of law and upon being adjudicated and after having paid their prescribed punishment by a Court of Law, such citizens would be recognized as having “paid their debt” to society. However historical precedent has shown that very little of that premise has been practised. Instead citizens deemed felons of the law are perpetually punished by a series of lifetime collateral consequences, translating into an almost bar on access to employment and housing and other public rights. Expungement, or setting aside those convictions for people who’ve “paid their debt to society” is a clear pathway to increased access to employment for persons with a criminal record.","PeriodicalId":48352,"journal":{"name":"Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science","volume":"701 1","pages":"206 - 208"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2022-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42439571","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-01DOI: 10.1177/00027162221112565
Jesse Capece
Evidence suggests that steady employment is a key component in reducing the likelihood that people under community supervision will return to prison. Largely unexplored, however, is the extent to which employment outcomes and self-perceptions of employability among people under community supervision are affected by stipulations mandated upon release from prison. These stipulations include measures like visits with a probation office, court appearances, or drug and mental health treatments. This article review research on the relationship between the stipulations of community supervision and employment outcomes. It presents evidence from a new study that explores relationships between release stipulations, probation officer support, feelings of employability, and employment outcomes. The new evidence suggests that there is a negative relationship between community supervision and employment outcomes and perceptions of employability. I argue for alternative policies that could productively reshape community supervision.
{"title":"Community Supervision and Employment","authors":"Jesse Capece","doi":"10.1177/00027162221112565","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00027162221112565","url":null,"abstract":"Evidence suggests that steady employment is a key component in reducing the likelihood that people under community supervision will return to prison. Largely unexplored, however, is the extent to which employment outcomes and self-perceptions of employability among people under community supervision are affected by stipulations mandated upon release from prison. These stipulations include measures like visits with a probation office, court appearances, or drug and mental health treatments. This article review research on the relationship between the stipulations of community supervision and employment outcomes. It presents evidence from a new study that explores relationships between release stipulations, probation officer support, feelings of employability, and employment outcomes. The new evidence suggests that there is a negative relationship between community supervision and employment outcomes and perceptions of employability. I argue for alternative policies that could productively reshape community supervision.","PeriodicalId":48352,"journal":{"name":"Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science","volume":"701 1","pages":"61 - 75"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2022-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45200648","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-01DOI: 10.1177/00027162221115486
D. Harding, B. Western, Jasmin Sandelson
Across a variety of measures of safety and rehabilitation, our current systems of parole and probation are failing. Research shows that community supervision fails to reduce crime; traps its subjects in cycles of criminal justice involvement; is excessively punitive; and creates widespread harm to individuals, families, and communities—all while failing to significantly contribute to the social and economic integration of those under its control. We argue for a wholesale reform of community supervision, including the abandonment of current monitoring and control functions, and the repurposing of resources into systems of support for the hundreds of thousands of people leaving prison and jail every year. We also provide an overview to the articles assembled for this volume, which chart the challenges facing those on community supervision and offer a roadmap of potential policy solutions for improving the life chances of formerly incarcerated and justice-involved people.
{"title":"From Supervision to Opportunity: Reimagining Probation and Parole","authors":"D. Harding, B. Western, Jasmin Sandelson","doi":"10.1177/00027162221115486","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00027162221115486","url":null,"abstract":"Across a variety of measures of safety and rehabilitation, our current systems of parole and probation are failing. Research shows that community supervision fails to reduce crime; traps its subjects in cycles of criminal justice involvement; is excessively punitive; and creates widespread harm to individuals, families, and communities—all while failing to significantly contribute to the social and economic integration of those under its control. We argue for a wholesale reform of community supervision, including the abandonment of current monitoring and control functions, and the repurposing of resources into systems of support for the hundreds of thousands of people leaving prison and jail every year. We also provide an overview to the articles assembled for this volume, which chart the challenges facing those on community supervision and offer a roadmap of potential policy solutions for improving the life chances of formerly incarcerated and justice-involved people.","PeriodicalId":48352,"journal":{"name":"Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science","volume":"701 1","pages":"8 - 25"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2022-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46994497","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-01DOI: 10.1177/00027162221119661
L. Hawks, Nadine Horton, Emily A Wang
Americans under community supervision experience high rates of chronic disease, mental illness, and substance use disorders but have poor access to high-quality preventive care and treatment. Pervasive barriers to healthcare and health insurance reinforce poor health, as do restrictions to evidence-based addiction treatment. We propose that community supervision agencies transfer management of the health of supervised individuals to an expanded community-based healthcare system and that they abandon practices at odds with the science of addiction medicine (e.g. prohibitions on medications to treat addiction, and revocation of community release for addiction relapse). Further, we argue that correctional systems should prioritize health of those under supervision by standardizing health-related protocols, including basic needs resources in discharge planning, and leveraging the skills of individuals with lived experiences in the correctional system. If implemented, the success of our recommendations would require expansion of community-based primary care, mental health, and addiction treatment centers.
{"title":"The Health and Health Needs of People under Community Supervision","authors":"L. Hawks, Nadine Horton, Emily A Wang","doi":"10.1177/00027162221119661","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00027162221119661","url":null,"abstract":"Americans under community supervision experience high rates of chronic disease, mental illness, and substance use disorders but have poor access to high-quality preventive care and treatment. Pervasive barriers to healthcare and health insurance reinforce poor health, as do restrictions to evidence-based addiction treatment. We propose that community supervision agencies transfer management of the health of supervised individuals to an expanded community-based healthcare system and that they abandon practices at odds with the science of addiction medicine (e.g. prohibitions on medications to treat addiction, and revocation of community release for addiction relapse). Further, we argue that correctional systems should prioritize health of those under supervision by standardizing health-related protocols, including basic needs resources in discharge planning, and leveraging the skills of individuals with lived experiences in the correctional system. If implemented, the success of our recommendations would require expansion of community-based primary care, mental health, and addiction treatment centers.","PeriodicalId":48352,"journal":{"name":"Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science","volume":"701 1","pages":"172 - 190"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2022-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49384952","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-01DOI: 10.1177/00027162221114232
Natalie Smith
Tax credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) can provide vital income support to people returning to their communities following incarceration. But the current design of the EITC prevents many from accessing the income support that it provides. In this article, I propose expanding the EITC so that it better serves communities that have been harmed by punitive criminal legal policy. An expanded EITC could raise the incomes of community members returning from incarceration by 8 to 40 percent and raise the incomes of some caregiving families by 20 to 35 percent. I also consider the potential of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) to encourage employers to hire justice-involved workers. Finally, I argue that policy-makers should develop a bolder, refundable tax credit targeted at individuals who return to their communities from a variety of institutions, including carceral facilities. With more inclusive tax credits, social policy can begin to redress the harms of mass incarceration and support a vision of public safety that is centered on flourishing communities.
{"title":"How Tax Credits Can Support Formerly Incarcerated Individuals and Their Families","authors":"Natalie Smith","doi":"10.1177/00027162221114232","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00027162221114232","url":null,"abstract":"Tax credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) can provide vital income support to people returning to their communities following incarceration. But the current design of the EITC prevents many from accessing the income support that it provides. In this article, I propose expanding the EITC so that it better serves communities that have been harmed by punitive criminal legal policy. An expanded EITC could raise the incomes of community members returning from incarceration by 8 to 40 percent and raise the incomes of some caregiving families by 20 to 35 percent. I also consider the potential of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) to encourage employers to hire justice-involved workers. Finally, I argue that policy-makers should develop a bolder, refundable tax credit targeted at individuals who return to their communities from a variety of institutions, including carceral facilities. With more inclusive tax credits, social policy can begin to redress the harms of mass incarceration and support a vision of public safety that is centered on flourishing communities.","PeriodicalId":48352,"journal":{"name":"Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science","volume":"701 1","pages":"134 - 150"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2022-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41347570","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-01DOI: 10.1177/00027162221119058
Teresa Y. Hodge
{"title":"Moving from Awareness to Urgent Action: A Call for Relevant Data and a Human-Centered Reentry Approach","authors":"Teresa Y. Hodge","doi":"10.1177/00027162221119058","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00027162221119058","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":48352,"journal":{"name":"Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science","volume":"701 1","pages":"209 - 212"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2022-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47284000","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-01DOI: 10.1177/00027162221115380
J. Christian
Scholars and policy-makers are increasingly recognizing the limitations of bureaucracies to deliver the services and interventions that are most needed by people who have been impacted by the justice system. We are also seeing the ways in which supervision practices can exacerbate the challenges that formerly incarcerated people face in terms of meaningful reintegration with family and community after imprisonment. Local reentry initiatives are showing potential as a mechanism to advance the individual and collective well-being of justice-involved people. This article examines the strategies and initiatives of community-directed organizations that provide for people who have been incarcerated and considers lessons for future practice. Among our key findings are that services need to include people with histories of justice involvement in leadership at all levels of their organizations and that the outcome measures for success in service provision should not be limited to recidivism.
{"title":"The Promise and Challenge of Local Initiatives That Support Reentry and Reintegration","authors":"J. Christian","doi":"10.1177/00027162221115380","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00027162221115380","url":null,"abstract":"Scholars and policy-makers are increasingly recognizing the limitations of bureaucracies to deliver the services and interventions that are most needed by people who have been impacted by the justice system. We are also seeing the ways in which supervision practices can exacerbate the challenges that formerly incarcerated people face in terms of meaningful reintegration with family and community after imprisonment. Local reentry initiatives are showing potential as a mechanism to advance the individual and collective well-being of justice-involved people. This article examines the strategies and initiatives of community-directed organizations that provide for people who have been incarcerated and considers lessons for future practice. Among our key findings are that services need to include people with histories of justice involvement in leadership at all levels of their organizations and that the outcome measures for success in service provision should not be limited to recidivism.","PeriodicalId":48352,"journal":{"name":"Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science","volume":"701 1","pages":"191 - 203"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2022-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42570251","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-01DOI: 10.1177/00027162221112772
Khoi Quach, Michael Cerda-Jara, Raven Deverux, Johnny Smith
Enrollment in and navigation of higher learning institutions as a pathway to social mobility remains a significant challenge for many currently and formerly incarcerated people, particularly for those placed under community supervision. This article reviews research on the topic, drawing out key contributory factors and summarizing reform efforts in recent history. We discuss the potential differential benefits of postsecondary educational attainment for formerly incarcerated people and emphasize the need for more research around educational attainment for this population. We also examine effective model programs in the State of California as a way of highlighting the complex and variable nature of the challenges in higher learning for justice-impacted individuals due to their social and supervisory circumstances. These analyses are used as basis for general policy recommendations to provide a stronger foundation for targeted support frameworks and to assist institutional partners working to improve the experience and success of justice-impacted people in postsecondary education. We conclude the article with a critical reflection regarding the institutional function of education in accordance with the current demands of neoliberalism and a concomitant call to action anchored to an alternative vision for a more emancipatory education.
{"title":"Prison, College, and the Labor Market: A Critical Analysis by Formerly Incarcerated and Justice-Impacted Students","authors":"Khoi Quach, Michael Cerda-Jara, Raven Deverux, Johnny Smith","doi":"10.1177/00027162221112772","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00027162221112772","url":null,"abstract":"Enrollment in and navigation of higher learning institutions as a pathway to social mobility remains a significant challenge for many currently and formerly incarcerated people, particularly for those placed under community supervision. This article reviews research on the topic, drawing out key contributory factors and summarizing reform efforts in recent history. We discuss the potential differential benefits of postsecondary educational attainment for formerly incarcerated people and emphasize the need for more research around educational attainment for this population. We also examine effective model programs in the State of California as a way of highlighting the complex and variable nature of the challenges in higher learning for justice-impacted individuals due to their social and supervisory circumstances. These analyses are used as basis for general policy recommendations to provide a stronger foundation for targeted support frameworks and to assist institutional partners working to improve the experience and success of justice-impacted people in postsecondary education. We conclude the article with a critical reflection regarding the institutional function of education in accordance with the current demands of neoliberalism and a concomitant call to action anchored to an alternative vision for a more emancipatory education.","PeriodicalId":48352,"journal":{"name":"Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science","volume":"701 1","pages":"78 - 97"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2022-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48010079","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-01DOI: 10.1177/00027162221109992
H. Holzer
In this article, I review what we know about the impacts of felony convictions and incarceration on later employment and earnings, particularly for those under community supervision. I then discuss what employers and public policymakers can do to improve these outcomes. First, I review the basic empirical facts on the employment and earnings of returning citizens, various hypotheses that could explain these facts, and the available evidence that support those hypotheses. Second, I review why people under community supervision may have either similar or different employment outcomes from those of returning citizens more broadly. Third, I consider the perspectives of employers and why it might be in their interests to reduce hiring penalties associated with earlier incarceration (especially in tight labor markets). Fourth, I consider what we know about policies to reduce these penalties and improve outcomes. In sum, I argue that both moral and economic arguments exist for a general reduction of hiring penalties that would improve employment outcomes.
{"title":"Why Do People under Community Supervision Work and Earn So Little? And What Can Policy Do to Increase Their Employment and Earnings?","authors":"H. Holzer","doi":"10.1177/00027162221109992","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00027162221109992","url":null,"abstract":"In this article, I review what we know about the impacts of felony convictions and incarceration on later employment and earnings, particularly for those under community supervision. I then discuss what employers and public policymakers can do to improve these outcomes. First, I review the basic empirical facts on the employment and earnings of returning citizens, various hypotheses that could explain these facts, and the available evidence that support those hypotheses. Second, I review why people under community supervision may have either similar or different employment outcomes from those of returning citizens more broadly. Third, I consider the perspectives of employers and why it might be in their interests to reduce hiring penalties associated with earlier incarceration (especially in tight labor markets). Fourth, I consider what we know about policies to reduce these penalties and improve outcomes. In sum, I argue that both moral and economic arguments exist for a general reduction of hiring penalties that would improve employment outcomes.","PeriodicalId":48352,"journal":{"name":"Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science","volume":"701 1","pages":"46 - 60"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2022-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43930102","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}