The majority (53%) of 62 Baltimore area employers surveyed were willing to hire an ex-offender described in a hypothetical scenario. Employers’greatest apprehensions concerned ex-offenders’ people skills and their customers’ discomfort if customers knew that an ex-convict worked for them. Also, the data show that employers’willingness to take advantage of a program with subsidized wages and their fear of being victimized were related to their degree of social contact with ex-convicts. These findings suggest that ex-offenders would benefit from programs enhancing people skills and that employerswith greater familiarity with ex-convicts can more easily dismiss negative stereotypes about this population.
Atkinson, D., Fenster, C. A., & Blumberg, A. S. -1976-. Employer attitudes toward workrelease programs and the hiring of offenders. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 3, 335-343.
3.
Bouffard, J. A., MacKenzie, D. L.,& Hickman, L. J. -2000-. Effectiveness of vocational education and employment programs for adult offenders: A methodology-based analysis of the literature. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 31, 1-41.
4.
Cole, G., & Smith, C. E. -2001-. Criminal justice in America. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
5.
Curtis, R. L., Jr., & Schulman, S. -1984-. Ex-offenders, family relations, and economic supports: The “significant women” study of the TARP project. Crime & Delinquency, 30, 507-528.
6.
Davis, R. P. -1980-. Employer stigmatization of ex-offenders and the pardon under the Criminal Records Act. Canadian Journal of Criminology, 22, 343-353.
7.
Dixon, K. A., Storen, D., & Van Horn, C. E. -2002-. Work trends IX—A workplace divided: HowAmericans viewdiscrimination and race on the job. Retrieved January 1, 2002, from http://www.heldrich.rutgers.edu/news.cfm
8.
Evenson, R. -1999-. Soft skills, hard sell. Techniques: Making Education and Career Connections, 74, 29-31.
9.
Finn, Peter. -1999-. National criminal justice reference service. Putting ex-convicts back to work. Retrieved December 26, 2001, from http://www.ncjrs.org/txtfiles1/jr000240.txt
10.
Glasser, J. -2000, May 1-. Ex-cons on the street: The crime crackdown produces a record flow of ex-offenders with nowhere to go. U.S. News & World Report, pp. 18-20.
11.
Harm, N. J., & Phillips, S. D. -2001-. You can’t go home again: Women and criminal recidivism. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 32, 3-21.
12.
Heinemann, K. G. -1996-. What do employers want from today’s job applicants? T.H.E. Journal, 23, 69-71.
13.
Henriques, Z. W., & Manatu-Rupert, N. -2001-. Living on the outside: African American women before, during, and after imprisonment. The Prison Journal, 81, 6-19.
14.
Henry, K. -2000, August 13-. Atight labor market is boon to ex-convicts. The Baltimore Sun, pp. 1D-1D, 4D-4D.
15.
Infante, V. D. -2000-. The pros of hiring ex-cons. Workforce, 79, 30-30.
16.
Jacobs, J. B., McGahey, R., & Minion, R. -1984-. Ex-offender employment, recidivism, and manpower policy: CETA, TJTC, and future initiatives. Crime & Delinquency, 30, 486-506.
17.
Jurik, N. C. -1983-. The economics of female recidivism. Criminology, 21, 603-622.
18.
Kottak, C. P., & Kozaitis, K. A. -1999-. On being different. Boston: McGraw-Hill.
19.
Larivee, J. -2001-. Returning inmates: Closing the public safety gap. Corrections Compendium, 26, 1-6.
20.
Martin, D. M.,& Sussman, P. Y. -1993-. Committing journalism: The prison writings of Red Hog. New York: W. W. Norton.
21.
Pelton, T. -2002, September 12-. Plan to assist ex-offenders. The Baltimore Sun, p. 2B-2B.
22.
Petersilia, J. -2000-. When prisoners return to the community: Political, economic, and social consequences. Sentencing & Corrections, 9, 1-7.
23.
Rasmusen, E. -1996-. Stigma and self-fulfilling expectations of criminality. Journal of Law and Economics, 39, 519-541.
24.
Rossi, P. H., Berk R. A.,& Lenihan, K. J. -1980-. Money, work and crime: Experimental evidence. New York: Academic Press.
25.
Shapiro, J. P. -2000, November 6-. Employers look to the joint to fill jobs. U.S. News& World Report, p. 70-70.
26.
Tromanhauser, E. D. -1976-. The attitudes and practices of Chicago area employers regarding the hiring of ex-offenders: A survey-DLMA Report No. 91-17-75-01-1-. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Labor, Manpower Adminstration.
U.S. Department of Justice, United States Parole Commission. -2001-. Standard conditions of release forU.S. code offenders.Retrieved December 26, 2002, from http://www.usdoj.gov/uspc/release.htm
29.
Whiting, B. M., & Winters, E. -1981, November/December-. Ex-offenders and job employment in East Central Wisconsin. Corrections Today, 432, 82-84.
