Doctoral Dissertation Research: Criminal Records and Housing Discrimination: An Audit Study

博士论文研究：犯罪记录和住房歧视：审计研究

• 批准号: 1802638
• 负责人: Ryan King
• 金额: $ 0.94万
• 依托单位: Ohio State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-06-15 至 2020-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1802638&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Criminal; Records

The proportion of the U.S. population with a criminal record has dramatically increased during the past four decades, and research has documented the ways in which a criminal record creates and reinforces inequalities in employment, health, and other outcomes. However, less is known about how a criminal record affects access to housing. This project will identify the prevalence and scope of criminal record use to disqualify applicants at an early stage of the housing application process. It will also detect whether there are racial disparities in the consideration of criminal histories by landlords. It examines if neighborhood disadvantage conditions the stigmatizing effect of a criminal record. Finally, it advances understanding of how landlords weigh criminal background checks and how they implement recent changes in the laws that require use of criminal histories in these transactions. Project findings will provide greater understanding of how U.S. housing policy is working, particularly for those with criminal backgrounds.This project consists of a field experiment and qualitative interviews. An email-based audit study of rental housing units will involve contacting landlords and inquiring to see the rental properties. These emails will signal race and the criminal history status of the potential applicants. The audit study will be paired with interviews with landlords about how they use criminal histories in the application process, and their understanding of recent policy changes regarding criminal record use in such evaluations. This research will contribute to a growing body of findings on the durable effects of criminal justice contact, as well as socio-legal research on how property managers adapt to and comply with policy changes. It also contributes to sociological theories focused on discrimination, racial inequality and urban residence.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

在过去的四十年里，有犯罪记录的美国人口比例急剧增加，研究记录了犯罪记录在就业、健康和其他方面造成和加剧不平等的方式。然而，关于犯罪记录如何影响住房的获取，人们知之甚少。该项目将确定犯罪记录使用的普遍程度和范围，以便在住房申请过程的早期阶段取消申请人的资格。它还将调查房东在考虑犯罪历史时是否存在种族差异。它考察了社区劣势是否制约了犯罪记录的污名化效应。最后，它促进了对房东如何权衡犯罪背景调查的理解，以及他们如何实施最近要求在这些交易中使用犯罪历史的法律变化。该项目的调查结果将使人们更好地了解美国住房政策是如何运作的，特别是对那些有犯罪背景的人。本项目由实地实验和定性访谈组成。一项以电子邮件为基础的租赁住房审计研究将涉及联系房东并询问查看租赁物业。这些电子邮件将显示潜在申请人的种族和犯罪历史状况。审计研究将与对房东的采访相结合，询问他们如何在申请过程中使用犯罪记录，以及他们对在此类评估中使用犯罪记录的最新政策变化的理解。这项研究将有助于越来越多的关于刑事司法接触的持久影响的研究结果，以及关于物业管理人员如何适应和遵守政策变化的社会法律研究。它也有助于社会学理论集中在歧视，种族不平等和城市居住。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。