Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Exploitation of a Criminal Record: Coercive Work while on Parole

在从监狱释放后的这段时间里，假释人员可能会因假释规定的工作要求而被迫就业。当人们发现自己处于法律的劳动保护范围之外，被迫在明确或感知到的刑事司法后果威胁下工作时，就会发生强迫就业。这些不同的权力动态为剥削已经被边缘化的劳动人口创造了空间，这对社会经济不平等和累犯产生了持久的影响。拟议的项目将是第一个系统地记录从监狱释放后一段时间内强迫劳动的普遍性的项目，并将探讨强迫劳动和假释犯的生活经历。出狱后的就业和惩罚观念。此外，该项目将调查人们如何在假释期间应对与就业要求相关的刑事司法制裁的威胁。到目前为止，再入决策者和学者都集中在招聘过程中，最近的运动证明？Ban the Box;？然而，这个项目提醒人们注意这样一个现实，即重返社会的障碍并不止于雇用的那一刻，而是继续在整个就业过程中，通过两个阶段的原始数据收集与成年人在洛杉矶县，这个项目将提供深入了解假释期间的强制性工作的普遍性和经验。首先，对40名活跃的假释犯进行深入的定性访谈，以细致入微地了解社区监督期间强制性工作的表现方式，这种经历是什么样的，以及假释犯如何看待监狱后的工作要求和惩罚。第二，将通过大规模网络调查获得定量数据。为了获得估计的胁迫性工作，是在洛杉矶县假释的成年人的代表，调查参与者招募将利用受访者驱动的抽样（RDS）设计，研究难以达到的人群最有效的策略之一。这项研究将结合联合收割机的人RDS招聘方法与网络调查的混合方法的方法来研究就业之间的前囚犯，可能对其他隐藏populations.This研究的影响，反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

During the period following release from prison, people on parole may experience coercive employment as a result of their parole-mandated work requirements. Coercive employment occurs when people find themselves outside the bounds of legal labor protections, forced to work in conditions under either the explicit or perceived threat of criminal justice repercussions should they refuse. These differential power dynamics create space for the exploitation of already marginalized laboring populations, which has lasting implications for socioeconomic inequality and recidivism. The proposed project will be the first to systematically document the prevalence of coercive work in the period following release from prison, and will explore both the lived experience of coercive work and parolees? perceptions of employment and punishment after prison. Additionally, this project will investigate how people navigate the looming threat of criminal justice sanctions as tied to employment requirements while on parole. To date, reentry policymakers and scholars alike have focused on the hiring process, as evidenced by the recent movement to ?Ban the Box;? however, this project draws attention to the reality that barriers to reentry do not stop at the moment of hire but, rather, continue on throughout the employment process.Through two phases of original data collection with adults on parole in Los Angeles County, this project will provide insight into the prevalence and experience of coercive work while on parole. First, 40 in-depth qualitative interviews with active parolees will provide a nuanced understanding of the ways coercive work manifests while on community supervision, what that experience is like, and how parolees perceive work requirements and punishment after prison. Second, quantitative data will be obtained through a large-scale web survey. In order to obtain estimates of coercive work that are representative of adults on parole in Los Angeles County, survey participant recruitment will utilize a Respondent-Driven Sampling (RDS) design, one of the most effective strategies for studying hard-to-reach populations. This study will combine an in-person RDS recruitment method with the web survey for a mixed methods approach to studying employment among former prisoners that may have implications for future research on other hidden populations.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.