Evaluating the Impact of “Old” Criminal Conviction Decision Guidelines on Subsequent Employment and Arrest Outcomes

• Date: 01 May 2017
• Published date: 01 May 2017
• Author: Megan Denver
• DOI: 10.1177/0022427816680252
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

Evaluating the

Impact of ‘‘Old’’

Criminal Conviction

Decision Guidelines

on Subsequent

Employment and

Arrest Outcomes

Megan Denver

1

Abstract

Objectives: Redemption scholars estimate that after an average of 7-10 years

pass without a new arrest or conviction, a person’s criminal record essen-

tially loses its predictive value. This article provides the first labor market

and recidivism estimates of implementing a criminal background check

decision guideline based on this redemption research. Methods: The sample

consists of provisionally hired job applicants in New York State’s healthcare

industry with at least one prior conviction. A ‘‘10 years since last convic-

tion’’ guideline situated within a highly formalized criminal background

check process plausibly creates conditional random variation in clearance

decisions, which allows for a regression model to estimate causal effects.

Results: Individuals cleared to work because of the 10-year guideline

1

School of Criminal Justice, University at Albany, Albany, NY, USA

Corresponding Author:

Megan Denver, School of Criminal Justice, University at Albany, 310 Draper Hall, 135 Western

Ave., Albany, NY 12203, USA.

Email: mdenver@albany.edu

Journal of Research in Crime and

Delinquency

2017, Vol. 54(3) 379-408

ªThe Author(s) 2016

Reprints and permission:

sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav

DOI: 10.1177/0022427816680252

journals.sagepub.com/home/jrc

experience meaningful improvements in employment and earnings, but not

recidivism on average. However, men do experience reductions in subse-

quent arrests, which appears to be driven by more complex factors beyond

simply time since last arrest. Conclusions: For some individuals, receiving

clearance to work even a decade after their last conviction can have not

only labor market benefits, but also important recidivism implications.

Future research should explore the employment oppor tunity/recidivism

trade-off in adjusting guideline threshold values and consider alternati ve

redemption strategies.

Keywords

redemption, time since last offense, criminal background checks, desistance,

employment

Introduction

Criminal background inquiries and checks serve as a major barrier to Amer-

icans with criminal records who are pursuing employment (Holzer,

Raphael, and Stoll 2002; Pager 2007; Uggen et al. 2014). Yet obtaining a

job may reduce recidivism and induce positive change for individuals with

criminal records for various theoretical reasons (e.g., Agnew 1992; Becker

1968; Laub and Sampson 1993, 2001). There is new evidence that passing a

criminal background check to work in a job for which a person was provi-

sionally hired reduces recidivism among some people with records (Denver,

Siwach, and Bushway 2017), which provides policymakers with furt her

motivation to increase clearance to work. However, policymakers currently

have very little guidance on specifically how to increase criminal back-

ground check clearance in a way that reduces recidivism without increasing

risk to employers, employees, or vulnerable populations.

A recent line of empirical res earch has laid the groundwork fo r one

potential strategy. Researchers estimate that individuals with prior criminal

records have similar probabilities of a new arrest or conviction as those

without criminal records after an average of 7–10 years have passed without

new criminal justice system involvement (Blumstein and Nakamura 2009;

Kurlychek, Brame, and Bushway 2006, 2007; Soothill and Francis 2009).

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC 2012) has

emphasized the consideration of criminal conviction recency in its revised

guidance to employers. As a result, policymakers can potentially

380 Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 54(3)