Can A Felon Get a Break? by Negus Rudison-Imhotep, Ph.D.
Dr. Negus Rudison-Imhotep | A Cultural Memory Specialist
In this article, Dr Negus Rudison-Imhotep addresses an important question: Can a felon get a break? But before diving into that, it’s essential to understand what it truly means to be a felon.
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A felon is an individual who has been convicted of a felony, which is a serious criminal offense typically punishable by imprisonment for more than one year or by death. Felonies are more severe than misdemeanors and can involve crimes such as murder, robbery, rape, and drug trafficking.
A felon may face long-term consequences, including loss of certain civil rights, such as the right to vote, own firearms, or hold certain public office positions, depending on the laws of the jurisdiction where they were convicted. But here is the question, can a felon get a break?
The words of Dr. Negus Rudison-Imhotep, executive committee member at the Des Moines Civil and Human Rights Commission, start here.
Research Questions
The research topic is based on hiring ex-offenders to minimize the squandering of human capital. The questions formulated for the research topic can be divided into qualitative and quantitative. The two most vital qualitative questions that can be framed for the research are as follows:
What is the extent to which hiring ex-offenders and employees can affect the entire organization and the workforce present in it?
Does squandering of human capital by not hiring ex-offenders also dependent on race and color?
Similarly, the two quantitative questions that can be framed for the research topic are as follows:
How much willingness do employers have to hire ex-offenders?
How frequently do employers conduct criminal background checks on their employees? Will employers hire employees after discovering their criminal background?
Research Methodology
The paper thoroughly conducts the research study using both qualitative and quantitative methodologies.
Qualitative Research Methodology:
In the qualitative study, a group of 10 managers were questioned on the two major questions framed in the study. The answers to the questions were received using the in-depth form or methodology of the interview (Guercini, 2014).
Detailed qualitative research on the topic conducted by two eminent authors has been cited and their works have been followed for preparing the research study. The interview data has been evaluated before its use in the research study.
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The annotated bibliographies presented below are the major sources from which the entire qualitative research methodology has been understood and utilized in the research study:
Annotated Bibliography
Albright, S., & Deng, F. (1996). Employer attitudes toward hiring ex-offenders. The prison journal, 76(2), 118-137.
Holzer, H. J., Raphael, S., & Stoll, M. A. (2006). Perceived Criminality, Criminal Background Checks, and the Racial Hiring Practices of Employers. Journal of Law and Economics, 49(2), 451-480.
For the first question, Albright and Denq displayed an in-depth form of research methodology for receiving answers for the qualitative part of the research study from the selected group of 10 human resource managers.
Managers were asked about the extent to which hiring ex-offenders as employees could impact the entire organization and its workforce.”. Almost 8 of the 10 managers stated that the normal employees felt less motivated and more afraid to work with the ex-offenders. Two human resource managers also noted that the employees felt safety needs might be hampered if the ex-offenders were hired within the organization or factories.
Therefore, human resources management refrained from hiring the previously imprisoned employees, because the managers feel afraid to lose their maximum workforce because of them.
Holzer, Raphael, and Stoll effectively displayed the qualitative methodology of in-depth interviews for the second question of the research topic which was related to color and race playing a role in the lack of hiring ex-offenders in organizations by human resource managers.
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The answer to the question is received by utilizing the in-depth research methodology already stated above. Two out of the ten human resource managers of African origin agreed that majorly black people are not hired by organizations more so if they have committed a crime before. The other managers differed a bit but allotted to the fact that racism does sometimes play a major role in the hiring of employees.
Albright and Denq correctly noted that employers often avoid hiring ex-offenders due to fears among the existing workforce. Holzer, Raphael, and Stoll also pointed out that racial discrimination plays a significant role in hiring decisions among many managers. The authors’ observations are substantiated by a wealth of past and current reports, underscoring their relevance.
Quantitative research methodology
The quantitative research methodology is carried out by collecting primary and secondary data. The data in the research has been formulated by taking clues from several authorized sources. All methods from data presented by other authorized sources were reviewed and subsequently used to frame the relevant statistical data in the research study.
The probability of occurrences of certain factors has also been analyzed before preparing certain statistical charts. After receiving the idea of conducting the research, and gathering statistical data, the entire research study has been formulated successfully (Gresham, 2014). The annotated bibliographies presented below represent the source from which the usage of the data has been learned and framed in the paper.
Annotated Bibliography
Harris, P. M., & Keller, K. S. (2005). Ex-Offenders Need Not Apply the Criminal Background Check in Hiring Decisions. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 21(1), 6-30.
The first question deals with the willingness of employers to hire ex-offenders as employees. Several statistical data points were gathered to gain a clear understanding of the question framed by Harris and Keller. The image below illustrates the typical characteristics of employers who hire ex-offenders. A detailed analysis of the question and the picture is carried out below:
Figure 1: Willingness of employers to hire ex-offenders. Figure 1: Willingness of employers to hire ex-offenders
(Source: Harris & Keller, 2005)
The data shows that the willingness of employers to hire ex-offenders was limited. The ex-prisoners searched for employment, and many felt that most employers were unwilling to hire them. Additionally, reports indicated that several employers intentionally searched for criminal backgrounds to avoid hiring ex-offenders, although this was not a common practice.
The survey details included in the research study were obtained from secondary sources or data. The survey displayed that almost 40% of employers refrain from hiring applicants with criminal records. Over 90% of the employers even went in stating that they would sign on disadvantaged workers instead of the previously imprisoned ones even if they lacked a degree in high school diploma.
The continual reluctance on the part of employers to hire ex-offenders might lead to a gap in the demand and supply of the workforce. Almost 90% of employers are mostly found to be averse to the hiring of employees who were imprisoned due to violent form of offenses.
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On the other hand, only a meager amount, 35% of the employees, were interested in hiring employees who were recently released from imprisonment.
The second question, which pertains to the occasions when employers check the criminal backgrounds of employees, can be addressed through secondary quantitative data. The results suggest that employers typically do not conduct criminal history checks on employees, although there are instances when they do.
Figure 2: Companies’ response to questions on criminal background checks of employees
(Source: Harris & Keller, 2005), (Source: Harris & Keller, 2005)
The statistical data above illustrates the distribution of employer responses regarding the frequency of criminal background checks on applicants before hiring them. Secondary results obtained in the study indicate that approximately 32% of employers always check these records, while 17% do so occasionally.
Conversely, 51% of employers reported that they never check the criminal backgrounds of applicants. The secondary result obtained in the study suggests that almost 32% of employers always check the record. 17% of the employers indicate that at times they check the records.
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Conversely, 51% of employers reported that they never check the criminal background of applicants. The data, therefore, supports the probability that employers checking the criminal background records of the applicants is still present to a certain extent. This hampers the hiring of various talented human capital.
By analyzing the techniques used to develop quantitative data, the primary data for the research study was formulated.
References
Albright, S., & Deng, F. (1996). Employer attitudes toward hiring ex-offenders. The prison journal, 76(2), 118-137.
Gresham, F. M. (2014). Quantitative research methods and designs in consultation. Handbook of Research in School Consultation, 79.
Guercini, S. (2014). New qualitative research methodologies in management. Management Decision, 52(4), 1-1.
Harris, P. M., & Keller, K. S. (2005). Ex-Offenders Need Not Apply the Criminal Background Check in Hiring Decisions. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 21(1), 6-30.
Holzer, H. J., Raphael, S., & Stoll, M. A. (2006). Perceived Criminality, Criminal Background Checks, and the Racial Hiring Practices of Employers*. Journal of Law and Economics, 49(2), 451-480.
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