The Rise of Criminal Background Screening in Rental Housing

Abstract

This article investigates the recent rise of criminal background screening in rental housing as a case study of the diffusion of actuarial social control. That case study suggests that actuarial techniques have spread more widely through the crime prevention field than sociolegal scholars have recognized, replacing disciplinary efforts to diagnose and alter the behavior of individuals with actuarial efforts to identify and isolate high‐risk groups. This actuarial strategy has proliferated not only because new discourses encouraged it but also because new institutional structures facilitated it. That conclusion illustrates the importance of structural (rather than cultural) factors in shaping society's response to crime—particularly the growing availability of the collective institutional capacity that actuarial social control requires.

Forced Displacement From Rental Housing: Prevalence and Neighborhood Consequences

“…Accordingly, we observe whether a respondent lived in a singlemother household at her previous housing unit as well as whether a respondent had a child sometime in the previous two years. In addition, we observe whether a respondent obtained a criminal record before her/his most recent move because the mark of a criminal record could limit tenants' housing and neighborhood options (Thacher 2008). Since residential advantage is thought to increase over the life course (Rossi 1955(Rossi /1980), we also control for age.…”

Maintaining racial inequality through crime control: mass incarceration and residential segregation

“…In a study of tenant screening, Thacher (2008) illustrates how actuarial methods of social control diffuse beyond the criminal jusdce system and into institutions such as private housing. In his content analysis of 'how-to' manuals on property management, he illustrates recent techniques in the industry:…”

“…For many ex-offenders, finding housing, alongside employment, is difficult and leads many into homelessness (Travis, 2002). Much like formal restricdons on employment, housing has become more restricted and professionalized rental services trained to perform criminal background checks on potential tenants which are now de rigueur for most landlords (Thacher, 2008).…”

“…The shift of landlord focus to safety and controlling risk emanates partially from legal transformations that now hold landlords responsible for maintaining safety (Kline v. 1500Massachusetts Avenue Apartment Corp, 1970. In turn, landlords have become pressured by justice officials to screen in order to reduce liability and are provided with institutional infrastructures to facilitate their use of criminal record databases (Thacher, 2008).…”

Criminal Records and College Admissions: A Modified Experimental Audit

“…Criminal records can be acutely restrictive (Travis, Western, and National research Council [U.S.], 2014), limiting access to employment (Pager, 2003;Pager, Bonikowski, and Western, 2009;, public assistance (Gustafson 2009), housing (Thacher, 2008), family planning options (Children's Bureau, 2015), and civic participation (Manza and Uggen, 2006).…”