March 29, 2004
Consequences of Incarceration and Racial Disparities
EVANSTON, Ill. --- A Northwestern University study that looks
at the consequences of incarceration on employment weighs in heavily
on the scarce research on the subject with a conclusion that highlights
the futility of finding an entry level job when race enters the
equation.
The study’s
young black and white testers, who actually were college graduates,
filled out job applications for entry level
jobs with nearly identically assigned employment, education and
criminal histories; they also exhibited similar interpersonal styles
to employers.
“Despite the ‘job seekers’ similar histories
and characteristics, blacks were less than half as likely as their
white counterparts to receive consideration by employers,” said
Devah Pager, the study’s investigator and assistant professor
of sociology at Northwestern University. “Most striking,
blacks with clean records fare no better than whites with prior
felony convictions.”
Whites with criminal records received callbacks 17 percent of
the time, compared to blacks with no criminal history, who received
callbacks 14 percent of the time.
“Many employers assume that young black men from the inner-city
have criminal tendencies whether or not they have a criminal record,” said
Pager. “Blacks are thus confronted with the stigma of an
ex-con even if they themselves are not involved in crime.”
Partly these stereotypes are the result of massive racial disparities
in the criminal justice system.
“The United States has the highest incarceration rate in
the world, with the rate for young black men in the year 2000 reaching
nearly 10 percent — compared to just over 1 percent for white
men in the same group,” said Pager.
Pager’s
research shows that blacks with criminal records are the most
disadvantaged group in the applicant pool. The ratio
of callbacks for non-offenders relative to ex-offenders for whites
is 2:1; the same ratio for blacks is nearly 3:1.
“This research not only makes it painfully clear that a
criminal record severely limits employment opportunities,” she
said, “but suggests that previous estimates of the aggregate
consequences of incarceration may underestimate the impact on racial
disparities.”
By adopting an experimental design which carefully matches applicants
on job-relevant characteristics, Pager got around arguments that
poor outcomes of black ex-offenders could merely be the result
of preexisting traits that make them bad employees in the first
place. The results clearly show that employers use both race and
criminal records to screen out otherwise equally qualified applicants.
“It is noteworthy that in Wisconsin, where the study was
conducted, it is illegal to discriminate against job applicants
on the basis of a prior conviction unless the crime directly relates
to the specific job responsibilities required,” Pager said
The study was published in the American Journal of Sociology.
Go to: http://www.northwestern.edu/ipr/publications/papers/2003/pagerajs.pdf
Two black
and two white testers, paired by race, were employed for the
study. They were 23-year-old college students from Milwaukee
who were matched on the basis of physical appearance and general
style of presentation. Objective characteristics — such as
educational attainment and work experience — were made identical
for the purpose of the applications.
Job openings for entry-level positions (defined as jobs requiring
no previous experience and no education greater than high school)
were identified from the Sunday classified section of the Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel or from Jobnet, a Milwaukee sponsored Web site
for employment listings.
“The policy implications of this research are troubling,” said
Pager. “Research consistently shows that finding quality
steady employment is one of the strongest predictors of desistance
from crime. This study strongly suggests that a criminal record’s
effect on employment — particularly for black men — leaves
individuals with few viable alternatives.” |