Employers and the Reintegration of Formerly Incarcerated Persons

Abstract

In this initial submission, I argue for the importance of management researchers pursuing scholarly inquiry and research on the topic of employer reintegration of the formerly incarcerated. Around the world, there is growing political and social interest in criminal justice reform and rising expectations for businesses to respond to these changes. While criminologists have documented significant barriers contributing to employer resistance to hiring the formerly incarcerated, far less attention has been paid to employer hiring and retention of formerly incarcerated individuals. I suggest some possibilities for how understanding the dynamics and implications of employer hiring and retention of formerly incarcerated individuals can generate new conceptual and empirical insights of academic and practical relevance.

How Tax Credits Can Support Formerly Incarcerated Individuals and Their Families

“…come from the certified job itself and not through changes in the worker's broader future employment following the subsidized job." In addition to incorporating skill-building practices for low-wage (e.g., Galeano 2021) and WOTC-eligible employees (Hamersma 2008), the broader de-stigmatization of hiring and retaining formerly incarcerated workers, and the diffusion of these practices within firm networks, industries, or geographies, could help the WOTC improve longrun employment outcomes (Goodstein 2019).…”

Hiring Ex-Offenders: An Application of Theory of Planned Behaviour

“…The chances for them to secure a job increase when these skill sets match with the skill sets that employers are looking for (Aken & Michalisin, 2007). Studies have shown that if ex-offenders are provided with the necessary skills, the chances of being considered for an interview and getting hired will increase (Goodstein, 2019a). Besides that, if employers are interested and want to hire ex-offenders to work in their companies, employers need to ensure that they are always committed, motivated and highly skilled (Mohd, Julan, & Tuan Besar, 2020).…”

Generative Curiosity Three Years On: Encouraging Expansionist Curiosity

“…In March 2012, Richard Stackman and I were enjoying our usual post-Western-Academy-of Management-meetings bottle of wine, and came up with the idea of Generative Curiosity (GC) (Stackman & Hannah, 2017): a section where management scholars could introduce ideas about how management research could engage with problems that truly mattered to organizations and the people who work in them, without having to first force-fit those ideas into an existing theoretical conversation. In the time since its creation, GC has attracted 94 formal submissions, making it the third most popular section in JMI behind “Essays” and “Empirical.” We have accepted seven papers on a variety of fascinating and important topics, including domestic work (Masterson & Hoobler, 2019), cognitive performance enhancements (Leon, Harms, & Gilmer, 2019), actors at the wealth-power nexus (Lingelbach, 2019), and the employment of formerly incarcerated citizens (Goodstein, 2019). So far, the story of GC is a success.…”