Low-level criminal justice contact and racial disparities in employment outcomes

• In Event: 2429 - Open Refereed Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Roundtable 16

Abstract

Existing research has demonstrated that African Americans, especially young men, face myriad employment barriers. For those with a felony criminal record, these barriers are multiplied in terms of gaining access to and maintaining employment. However, we do not know the full impacts of low-level contact, such as an arrest, charge, conviction or jail sentence, on the consistency of employment. This project will explore the effects of points of contact less than prison in order to evaluate how such contact affects African Americans ability to sustain a position in the labor market. Using longitudinal data from the NLSY97, this project focuses employment outcomes as a result of arrests, convictions and jail sentences. Results show that the consistency of employment is detrimentally affected for African Americans for every type of contact, while their white counterparts are most affected by an arrest and conviction. These results point to the salience of exploring the continuum of contact in order to fully ascertain how the criminal justice system impacts levels of stratification and disadvantage within communities of color.

Author

• April D. Fernandes, North Carolina State University