The Unintended Consequences of 'Ban the Box': Statistical Discrimination and Employment Outcomes When Criminal Histories Are Hidden

I review the growing body of research that either directly assesses the effect of Ban the Box (BTB) on the employment prospects of those with criminal histories, tests for spillover effects operating through statistical discrimination, or assesses the labor-market impacts of related screening practices. I begin with a theoretical discussion that works through how widespread reluctance to hire those with criminal histories is likely to generate market-level employment and earnings penalties for various groups of workers, and how the size and distribution of these penalties likely depend on the information available to employers. I then turn to a review of research over the past 15 years or so that either directly assesses the impact of BTB or address highly related and relevant research questions. The weight of the empirical evidence suggests that BTB does not improve the employment prospects of those with criminal histories at private-sector employers, although there is some evidence of an improvement in employment prospects in the public sector. Regarding spillover effects operating through statistical discrimination, several studies indicate that BTB harms the employment prospects of African-American men. Furthermore, research on the effects of credit checks, occupational licensing, and drug testing appear to indicate that more information available to the employer improves the employment prospects of African Americans. Collectively, these findings imply that in the absence of objective information, employers place weight on stereotypes about the characteristics of black workers that are generally negative and inaccurate. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Criminology, Volume 4 is January 13, 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

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Does “Ban the Box” Help or Hurt Low-Skilled Workers? Statistical Discrimination and Employment Outcomes When Criminal Histories are Hidden

10.3386/w22469 ◽

2016 ◽

Cited By ~ 36

Author(s):

Jennifer Doleac ◽

Benjamin Hansen

Keyword(s):

Employment Outcomes ◽

Statistical Discrimination ◽

Skilled Workers ◽

Criminal Histories

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Examining Employment Outcomes of Offender and Nonoffender Vocational Program Graduates

International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology ◽

10.1177/0306624x17735041 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 62 (9) ◽

pp. 2781-2800 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Dana L. Formon ◽

Adam T. Schmidt ◽

Craig Henderson

Keyword(s):

Employment Outcomes ◽

Criminal History ◽

Offender Rehabilitation ◽

Community Based ◽

Equal Pay ◽

Community Based Programs ◽

Criminal Histories ◽

Reducing Recidivism ◽

Job Searching ◽

Vocational Training Program

Researchers have found providing employment opportunities for ex-offenders through job training programs to be effective at reducing recidivism. Examining various community-based programs for ex-offenders can be beneficial as they may be able to provide more stable and consistent programming without relying on the justice system. This study examined employment outcomes of graduates with and without criminal histories ( n = 617) from a community-based vocational training program. Results showed that ex-offender graduates obtained employment at equal rates to nonoffender graduates and received equal pay to their nonoffender counterparts. This could indicate that for the vocationally educated ex-offender, employment outcomes may be able to equal those of other job-searching individuals with similar backgrounds but without a criminal history. Community-based programs for ex-offenders may be able to provide effective programming to improve vocational attainment within this group, thereby potentially easing the burden on criminal justice institutions as the sole provider of offender rehabilitation.

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The Impact of Disability and Type of Crime on Employment Outcomes of African American and Latino Offenders

Journal of Applied Rehabilitation Counseling ◽

10.1891/0047-2220.48.4.46 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 48 (4) ◽

pp. 46-53

Author(s):

Glacia Ethridge ◽

Angel Riddick Dowden ◽

Michael Brooks

Keyword(s):

African American ◽

Target Population ◽

Employment Outcomes ◽

Criminal History ◽

Future Research ◽

Integrated Employment ◽

Criminal Histories ◽

Race Ethnicity ◽

Hispanic Latinos ◽

The Impact

Individuals with criminal histories who struggle to gain employment may choose to turn to illegal activity or seek state and federal program assistance to support themselves and their families. African Americans and Hispanic/Latinos with disabilities and criminal histories experience barriers (i.e., disability, criminal history, and race/ethnicity) that often prevent them from obtaining or maintaining competitive integrated employment. The purpose of this article was to examine the extant literature pertinent to disability and criminal history as employment obstacles among African American and Hispanic/Latino ex-offenders. As the foundation, the article categorizes employment outcomes for these target population by disability and criminal history, discusses how state vocational rehabilitation agencies can develop a criminal history service delivery model to improve employment outcomes, presents implications for improving employment outcomes, and explores future research.

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