Race & Minority Group Relations

Main Point/Argument of the Article

In The Mark of a Criminal Record, Devah Pager acknowledges the high rate of recidivism in the United States, and that those who are no longer incarcerated have poorer employment and incomes than those without criminal records. Because poverty, a lack of formal education, and the disappearance of employment opportunities that pay a livable wage are all linked to criminal activity, Pager seeks to investigate the difficulty ex-convicts face in securing employment as a result of having this “mark” that is a criminal record, as well as how race factors into employment, or lack thereof, specifically between Blacks and Whites. The purpose of this study and article is to understand the mechanisms that feed the relationship between imprisonment, employment, and income, some of which include: the loss of human capital, the labeling effects of the criminal stigma, institutional trauma, legal barriers to employment, and the disruption of social and family networks.

Employed Methodology

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Though the research that has consistently shown incarceration to be linked to lower employment and income is based on surveys, Pager’s employed methodology in this article was the experimental audit design. This approach was used to be able to isolate the institutional effect, holding constant the varying background and personal characteristics that otherwise make it challenging to disentangle cause and effect. The experimental audit design was used on matched pairs of individuals (“testers”) of high similarity who applied for real entry-level positions. This was done to gain insight on whether or not employers respond to applicants differently on the basis of selected characteristics, focusing solely on the initial stage of the employment process, as that is the stage most likely to be impacted by the criminal record obstacle.

Key Findings

Pager’s study results support the notion that a criminal record carries much weight in the employment process. Among the Whites, job applicants with a criminal record were only half as likely to be called for a second interview as equally qualified applicants without a criminal record. Among the Blacks, only 14 percent of Black men without criminal records were called back, less than the number of White applicants who had been convicted of crimes. Because all the testers had almost the exact same qualifications, the results can be attributed to race and criminal history. This is particularly interesting data because it brings to light the role that race plays in the job-hunting process and how biases serve to keep discriminatory practices and systems in place. Additionally, the evidence suggests that employers, who are already hesitant to hire Blacks, are even more reluctant to hire a Black person with a criminal background and that the U.S. criminal justice system plays an active role in keeping Black men unemployed and disenfranchised.

Strengths/Weaknesses, Advancing our Understanding of Race and Minority Relations, Convincingness, and Rate of Research

The Mark of a Criminal Record was a strong article in the sense that it provided evidence through the experiment to support a relationship between income, employment, and criminal history. Pager’s experimental audit results showed empirical proof of the injustices and inequality that exists in the U.S. criminal justice system and how stereotypes and biases serve to keep the marginalized in a state of oppression, making it difficult to climb the socioeconomic ladder to financial success. This did well at illustrating the long-term effects of incarceration on Blacks and gave rise to a discussion on the broken foundation on which the system is built upon. It was also smart to set up an experiment with people since that makes establishing causality easier. However, one of the major weaknesses of the study is that it cannot truly be considered representative, since it only studies Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In addition to this, employment is only one area of an ex-convict’s life that is impacted.

The study does not have research on housing, family formation, political participation, etc., which makes it difficult to understand the repercussions for social and economic inequity entirely. We must also take into account that in an audit study, there exists the possibility that behaviors of the testers can heavily influence the results in manners that are not random. Overall, however, I do feel that the experiment was quite convincing, and, if replicated enough times in various locations across the United States, could prove to be more well-researched, provide us with enough evidence to draw solid conclusions, and be more representative of the population, not merely Black and White men in Milwaukee.

Personal Reaction, Questions, and Relation to Other Readings

Personally, I feel as though this article raises the question of, “How do we work to combat the biases of employers in a system where racist ideology is ingrained and stereotypes are continuously perpetuated?” I ask this because, ultimately, employers choosing not to call back Black men is a symptom of a much larger issue surrounding incarceration. I also ask, “What are the ways in which Black people can act in order to contribute to a more equitable system?” and “Is positive, effective change best reached through breaking down the U.S. criminal justice system and restructuring it through the installation of policy that allows financial freedom to be more easily reached for Black people?” This particular article reminds me of the Amy Braverman piece, Kristen v. Aisha; Brad v. Rasheed: What’s in a Name and How It Affects Getting a Job.

Braverman’s study sought to find out if the name at the top of a résumé could encourage racial discrimination. Her research showed that applicants with more white-sounding names, like “Brad” and “Kristen” were called back 50 percent more frequently than applicants with more black-sounding names, such as “Aisha” and “Rasheed” received the fewest callbacks. This is quite similar to Pager’s article, because of the methodology and that it highlights the implicit biases that exist as a result of stereotypes, which, in these cases, exist to inhibit career and economic growth. Racial discrimination is more than impeding on the rights and opportunities of others based on skin color; it includes denial of employment based on a name assumed to belong to someone of a particular race. The articles differ in that one focuses on incarceration/criminal record combined with race and employment, while the other focuses on black-sounding and white-sounding names combined with race and employment.

Also, the cities included in the study were different from that in Pager’s study, which heavily influences results, taking into account culture, the percentage of Blacks to Whites, etc. Overall, both were good studies that brought forth important questions and conversations that should be had concerning employment, race, and the criminal justice system of the United States.

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