Date of Award
12-2019
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education (EdD)
Department
Executive Leadership
First Supervisor
Dr. Guillermo Montes
Second Supervisor
Dr. Tisha Smith
Abstract
Obtaining employment after serving time in prison is essential for successful reentry after incarceration. However, Black men experience the highest rate of unemployment in the United States, a trend that only intensifies after release from custody. While there is extensive research correlating the high rate of Black male recidivism with the negative influences of criminal acquaintances, community barriers, obstacles to education, and racial inequalities that prevent successful reentries, there is little literature surrounding the positive outcomes, for all parties, that arise from the decisions of hiring managers or directors who offer second chances of employment to Black men with a criminal past. This study examined organizations that hire Black men with a criminal record in a region of Upstate New York using a quantitative survey design. This study looked at what, if any, are the motivations behind organizations offering employment opportunities to Black male ex-offenders and what, if any, is there a connection to corporate social responsibility and hiring decisions regarding Black men. The study failed to detect any significant differences correlated with the race of an applicant on likelihood-to-hire responses moderated by the organization’s practice of social responsibility. However, the data indicated that the three top motivating factors were: (a) encouraging a better society; (b) ethical considerations: it is the right thing to do; and (c) eliminating bias in the workplace, undergirded by the social responsibility model. In addition, the findings also showed that respondents gave higher likelihood-tohire scores for applicants who were more educated and had more work experience in an vi experiment. Overall, Black applicants appeared to score higher in the likelihood to hire. To note, the race of the employee was significantly associated with hiring the Black exoffenders. For instance, White respondents seem to consistently be more likely to hire Black applicants than White applicants.
Recommended Citation
Jones, Jennifer, "A Critical Examination of Employers Offering a Second Chance for Employment to Black Males with a Criminal Record" (2019). Education Doctoral. Paper 534.
https://fisherpub.sjf.edu/education_etd/534
Please note that the Recommended Citation provides general citation information and may not be appropriate for your discipline. To receive help in creating a citation based on your discipline, please visit http://libguides.sjfc.edu/citations.