Perceived Criminality, Criminal Background Checks, and the Racial Hiring Practices of Employers

The Effect of Criminal Background Checks on Hiring Ex-offenders*

Research Summary The rapid increase in the nation’s incarceration rate over the past decade has raised questions about how to reintegrate a growing number of ex-offenders successfully. Employment has been shown to be an important factor in reintegration, especially for men over the age of 27 years who characterize most individuals released from prison. This article explores this question using ...

GINA and preemployment criminal background checks.

Redemption in the Presence of Widespread Criminal Background Checks*

Recent advances in information technology and growing concerns about employer liability have combined to increase the demand for criminal background checks. Also, since over 14 million arrests are made each year, many individuals will have criminal history records. As a result, many individuals who have redeemed by avoiding involvement in crime and are seeking employment will be haunted by the ...

The Predictive Value of Criminal Background Checks: Do Age and Criminal History Affect Time to Redemption

∗ The authors would like to thank the Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement and the Hindelang Criminal Justice Research Center for financially supporting the visits that enabled this international collaboration. We also would like to thank seminar participants at the NSCR and the 2008 annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology as well as Robert Brame, Megan...

Criminal background checks for psychiatry? Michigan's mental health exceptionalism.

The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003, § 307 (MMA) requires the establishment of a pilot program for background checks of new employees of long-term care (LTC) facilities. Michigan was the only participating state to single out psychiatric facilities and employees under laws designed to comply with the program specified in § 307. The program was a demonstrat...