Bad jobs and good workers: The hiring of ex-prisoners in a segmented economy

Scholarship focusing on barriers to the employment of ex-prisoners has paid little attention to the linkages between mass incarceration and the structural conditions of low wage labor. In contrast, this article considers how decisions to hire ex-prisoners occur in the context of a highly segregated...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Theoretical criminology 2015-08, Vol.19 (3), p.336-354
Main Author: Bumiller, Kristin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Decision making
Employers
Employment
Labor market
Prisoners
Prisons
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Summary:Scholarship focusing on barriers to the employment of ex-prisoners has paid little attention to the linkages between mass incarceration and the structural conditions of low wage labor. In contrast, this article considers how decisions to hire ex-prisoners occur in the context of a highly segregated labor market. The research is based upon interviews with employers who are willing to hire persons exiting prisons. These employers were queried about their motivations for hiring, perceptions of their employees with criminal records, and their beliefs about fairness and justice. The interviews show that a strong motivating factor for hiring was finding a “good worker to do a bad job”, but also that decisions were influenced by employers’ common sense norms derived from surviving at the bottom of the economy. Despite the willingness of employers to offer “second chances” and make small allowances, these factors were insufficient to counteract the obstacles to sustainable employment.
ISSN:1362-4806
1461-7439
DOI:10.1177/1362480614557307