THE EDGE OF STIGMA: AN EXPERIMENTAL AUDIT OF THE EFFECTS OF LOW‐LEVEL CRIMINAL RECORDS ON EMPLOYMENT
THE EDGE OF STIGMA: AN EXPERIMENTAL AUDIT OF THE EFFECTS OF LOW‐LEVEL CRIMINAL RECORDS ON EMPLOYMENT
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耻辱的边缘：低级犯罪记录对就业影响的实验审计
DOI：
10.1111/1745-9125.12051
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发表时间：
2009
期刊：
影响因子：
5.8
通讯作者：
Hilary K. Whitham
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Christopher Uggen;Michael Vuolo;Sarah E. Lageson;Ebony L. Ruhland;Hilary K. Whitham
大量的实验证据表明，监狱记录的耻辱减少了就业机会(Pager，2007)。然而，如今的背景调查发现了更广泛的不当行为，包括逮捕从未导致正式指控的轻微罪行。这篇文章探讨了污名的较小界限，询问雇主是否以及如何在招聘决定中考虑低级别逮捕。配对的年轻非裔美国人和白人男性被派去申请300个入门级工作，每对人中的一人报告称，他们逮捕了行为不检的人，但没有被定罪。我们发现了一个温和但不是微不足道的影响，试验组的雇主回调率比匹配的控制组低了约4个百分点。对被审计雇主的采访表明，与重罪定罪相比，轻罪逮捕的耻辱较小有三种机制：1)在前一起案件中，雇主有更大的自由裁量权和权力；2)校准罪行的严重性、性质和时机；以及3)根深蒂固的无罪推定，这将逮捕的不确定性与定罪所代表的更大确定性进行了对比。此外，个人接触和工作场所的多样性在招聘过程中发挥着重要作用。
Ample experimental evidence shows that the stigma of a prison record reduces employment opportunities (Pager, 2007). Yet background checks today uncover a much broader range of impropriety, including arrests for minor crimes never resulting in formal charges. This article probes the lesser boundaries of stigma, asking whether and how employers consider low-level arrests in hiring decisions. Matched pairs of young African American and White men were sent to apply for 300 entry-level jobs, with one member of each pair reporting a disorderly conduct arrest that did not lead to conviction. We find a modest but nontrivial effect, with employer callback rates about 4 percentage points lower for the experimental group than for the matched control group. Interviews with the audited employers suggest three mechanisms to account for the lesser stigma of misdemeanor arrests relative to felony convictions: 1) greater employer discretion and authority in the former case; 2) calibration of the severity, nature, and timing of the offense; and 3) a deeply held presumption of innocence, which contrasts the uncertainty of arrest with the greater certainty represented by convictions. In addition, personal contact and workplace diversity play important roles in the hiring process.