Criminal Background Research Articles

Criminal records and public sector professional education: The role of criminal background checks in admissions to social work courses in England  

Criminal records and public sector professional education: The role of criminal background checks in admissions to social work courses in England  

The Role of Ethics-Focused Language in Overcoming Applicants’ Stigmatization of Convict Hiring

Those with a criminal background face substantial barriers in finding employment. Some estimates suggest that only a third of those who are released from prison find steady employment of any kind. This issues has strong relevance given that almost a third of people in countries like the United States possess a criminal record. We attempt to extend this literature by considering a third party perspective to former convict hiring. Drawing on stigma theory, we explore other applicant’s reactions to company’s who possess a hiring policy that supports the hiring of those with a criminal background, ‘fair chance’ hiring policies. Further, we integrate stigma theory with deonance theory to examine what types of ethical language may cause applicants to overcome potential stigmatization. By integrating the stigma and behavioral ethics literatures, we use the convict stigmatization context as an opportunity to re-evaluate workplace stigmatization more broadly. Two behavioral experiments show that when companies incorporate ethical justifications for their former convict hiring policies, it causes third-party applicants to overcome convict stigmatization. Implications for practice and the stigma literature more broadly are discussed.

Criminal records and public sector professional education: The role of criminal background checks in admissions to social work courses in England

Over 11 million people in England and Wales have criminal records, with men, people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds and people from poorer communities being over-represented. A gatekeeping discussion is developing across the social work profession regarding the role of criminal records in decision-making at the point of admission to social work programmes. Balancing risk, representation, and the right to move on, who becomes a social worker is an issue of debate among practitioners, educators, and policy makers, where notable instances of media and political focus on social work failure has led to public mistrust, and moral panic about the state of the profession. Whilst internationally many social work education providers have moved away from interview gatekeeping, in England this has continued, alongside wider checks including for criminal records. This discussion article reviews what social working with a criminal record represents in the profession and why course admissions is a site for restorative justice and the human right to move on.

Lone threats: a register-based study of Swedish lone actors

ABSTRACT This study investigates 30 lone actors in Sweden with a register-based design using a group of male lone actors and two reference groups: same-sex siblings and other male violent extremists. We compare lone actors to the reference groups along social background, criminal background, and co-offending relations (1995 –2016), and mental health (1980–2016). Our results show that lone actors are primarily born in Sweden to two Swedish-born parents. They have a high degree of criminality and co-offending, indicating that they are not completely loners in their criminal behaviour. They have higher enrolment in secondary education than the reference groups, but lower enrolment in higher education than other male violent extremists. Additionally, they suffer considerably more from mental disorders compared to the reference groups. An analysis of criminality and in- and outpatient hospitalisation over the life course indicates that lone actors may have had problems in their transition into middle age.

집합건물 경비원 운영 제도의 검토

In this paper, through a case related to the operation of security guards in a collective building, ① what laws are applied to security guards in Condominium Buildings depending on the type of security guard operation, ② whether it is possible to conduct a criminal background check for the management of the security guards in the collective building, ③ whether the security guards of the collective building After examining the issues of whether the supervisory function of the competent administrative agency for security work is functioning, the limitations were drawn, and then improvement measures were sought. In principle, the 「Security Business Act」 is applied to security guards belonging to a security company licensed in accordance with laws and regulations. In the 「Act on Ownership and Management of Condominium Buildings」, there are no regulations on the operation of security guards, and in Article 2-2, the effect of some special provisions of the 「Multi-Family Housing Management Act」 is only recognized to the extent that it does not impair the basic rights of the owner of the division. Inquiry about criminal records of security guards is conducted to check whether there are reasons for disqualification under the 「Security Services Industry Act」 in the case of of contract security services, and to check whether or not they are subject to employment restrictions under the 「Act on The Protection of children and youth against set offenses」 in the case of self-expenses of Multi-Family houses. In the case of supervision of security Services, the head of a police agency becomes the supervisory authority in accordance with 「Security Services Industry Act」, and in the case of self-security of Multi-Family house, the head of the competent local government performs the supervisory function in accordance with the 「Multi-Family Housing Management Act」. The limitations of the security guard operation system in the condominium Buildings examined through the case review of this study are as follows. First, the security guard regulations of the 「Communal Housing Management Act」 do not apply to the security guards of the condominium building. Second, there is no basis for confirming whether or not the security guards in the condominium building, which perform crime prevention functions, are subject to employment restrictions due to sexual offenses against children and adolescents. Third, there is a lack of a legislative system that can supervise the administrative agency having jurisdiction over the performance of security work by the security guards of the condominium building and the unjust behavior of the occupants. The improvement plan for the security guard operation system in the condominium building sought through the above research review is as follows. First, a normative specification of the security work of the self-guard of the condominium building should be made. In addition, the law should provide the basis for the criminal history inquiry of the security guards of the condominium building who perform functional security for crime prevention. And, there is a need for institutional supplementation to supervise the performance of security work in the condominium building and the illegal acts of residents. This study has a limitation in the study of individual case analysis in the structure of fragmented laws related to the operation of security guards. Therefore, in future research, it is necessary to collect cases of security guard operation by size of the condominium building and review the operation status.

Symptom and Performance Validity Assessment: European Trends in Research and Practice

This is a short editorial to the special issue of Psychological Injury and Law. The first of the articles of this issue (Merten et al., Symptom and performance validity assessment in European countries: an update, in this issue) was conceived as the proper introduction. The collection contains eight contributions from authors doing their research in eight different countries (Austria, Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland), using a variety of approaches (review and empirical articles, social security and criminal background, etc.). They describe major research trends and the state-of-the-art of validity assessment across the continent. They also reflect the transition from malingering assessment to validity testing and the extension of this field from forensic applications to clinical and rehabilitation referral contexts.

Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors’ Perceptions and Experiences of Career Theory Usage with Clients with a Criminal Record

PURPOSETo explore Louisiana Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors’ (VRCs’) perceptions and experiences in utilizing career theories suggested by Easter and Gaertner (2009) when providing vocational guidance and career counseling to clients with a criminal record. Results from this research will provide insight to current and prospective VRCs in their practice and heighten educators’ and supervisors’ awareness of VRCs’ experience using career theories.METHODSSix Louisiana VRCs with at least two years of experience working with clients who had a criminal background were interviewed twice using heuristic inquiry. This qualitative method relies on researchers’ ability to discover and interpret their own experiences while exploring others’ experiences. The data were analyzed by performing both opened-coding and axial-coding.RESULTSFour major themes were revealed from this qualitative study: (1) expectations, (2) autonomy, (3) counselor development, and (4) fidelity to career theories. Upon further analysis, the emergent theory suggested incongruence of theory and practice amongst participating VRCs. Findings suggest VRCs working with clients with criminal backgrounds do not feel their academic training has prepared them to use career theories with this population effectively.CONCLUSIONWhen the participants apply the career theories suggested by Easter and Gaertner to clients with a criminal record, they perceive them to be ineffective. Therefore, this study serves as a baseline for additional research and suggests additional training may be necessary for VRCs who work with clients with a criminal background.

Spatial Variations in Exclusionary Criteria from Online Rental Advertisements

Although the Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in the rental housing market on the basis of race, color, or religion, there exist ample opportunities for landlords to restrict their rental units to individuals with various backgrounds using exclusionary screening practices. These criteria, such as minimum credit scores, criminal history, source of income, or prior evictions, for instance, are often correlated with race and thus hold the potential to perpetuate spatial patterns of racial and income segregation. In this article, we analyzed online rental listings from Zillow and Craigslist in a case study of Charlotte, North Carolina, to examine the proliferation and spatial variation in exclusionary criteria by neighborhood race and income. Overall, we found criminal background, credit score, housing voucher, eviction, and minimum income restrictions to be greater in poorer and minority neighborhoods. When distinguishing by platform, however, we found the presence of corporate landlords, who did not advertise on Craigslist, to be a significant driver of these results. Corporate landlords represented nearly 60 percent of advertisements on Zillow and were more common in poorer and minority neighborhoods; they also systematically included nearly all restrictions. Craigslist, by contrast, had fewer criteria that correlated with race and income. Key Words: housing discrimination, natural language processing, online rental listings, spatial analysis, Web scraping.

Cybersecurity and Web of Things: A review on Ad hoc issues

Abstract: Cyber Security is employed for shielding knowledge systems like networks, computers, databases, information centers, and applications with acceptable procedural and technical security measures. As most of the issues pop up the thoughts, ‘cybercrimes’ can mix colossally daily. Crime is rising as a grave threat in today’s world. It’s an aggressive space of crime. As the number of web users has grown, so has offense. For example, the current Covid-19 pandemic has had a notable consequence for organizations and establishments, resulting in security vulnerabilities; as a result, network security is becoming progressively diverse and complex, and as a matter of fact, completely different ways are being devised to exploit it. Network engineers got to sustain with recent advances in each hardware and software package field to forestall them from being employed, together with user information. Historically, solely mobile computers and phones were connected to the internet; however, with the advancement of technology, other items such as security cameras, microwaves, automobiles, and industrial machinery are all now connected to the internet. The web of stuff is the term given to this network of interconnected things. Prime Securities for the Web of Things are involved[1]. This paper gives detailed information on cyber security and crime as little more than a result. It addresses forms of cyber security, the need for cyber security, issues regarding cyber security, benefits and drawbacks, criminal background, and criminal offenses. Keywords: Computer Security, Internet, Protection, Application software, IP network, Exploits, Malware Threats, Virus, IoT, Network Security, Computer Network, Cybersecurity.

Friends as Social Capital: A Preliminary Analysis of Previous Experience with – and Current Willingness to Befriend – Offenders in Malaysia

ABSTRACT Offenders who return to the community need social support to prevent recidivism, which has been challenging, necessitating a formal program (i.e., befrienders programs) where volunteers “befriend” these offenders as a way to provide social capital. However, the challenge to the recruitment to these programs is the question if just anyone could be a befriender for these offenders. This study explores the willingness of individuals to befriend an offender, along with their previous experience of exposure to a friend with a criminal background, which will provide insights for the recruitment purpose. This mixed-design study explored if 180 university students had a friend with an offender-status and their willingness to befriend other offenders along with their explanation. Chi-square tests of independence showed that having a friend with an offender-status has a relationship with the participants’ willingness to befriend other offenders, while there is no gender difference in their willingness. Content analysis showed various motivations for willingness that point to the general aspect of humanity and empathy of the participants, although prior contacts with an offender may impact getting to know other offenders. The study argues that recruitment process for the befriending program can be done through assessing prior contact with an offender.

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Impulsive and aggressive traits and increased peripheral inflammatory status as psychobiological substrates of homicide behavior in schizophrenia

Background and objectivesAn association between inflammation and psychopathological domains of psychotic disorders is widely acknowledged; however, the involvement of inflammatory processes in the underlying pathophysiology of violent behavior in schizophrenia is yet to be elucidated. In this study, we aimed to address the differences in impulsive and aggressive traits as well as C-reactive protein (CRP) to albumin ratio (CAR) as a marker of inflammation between schizophrenia patients with a history of homicide and those without any history of interpersonal violence or criminal background. MethodsThe study population consisted of 80 male DSM-5 schizophrenia patients who were classified into two groups: homicidal (n=40) and non-violent (n=40). Impulsive and aggressive traits were evaluated with Barratt Impulsivity Scale-11 (BIS-11), and the Buss-Warren Aggression Questionnaire (BWAQ), respectively. For the calculation of CAR, the CRP and albumin levels were obtained from the file records of routine blood screenings performed in the month before the patients were included in the study. ResultsWhen adjusted for age, all subscale scores of the BIS-11 as well as BWAQ Total, Physical and Hostility scores were significantly higher in the homicidal group than in the control group. CRP and CAR were significantly higher, and albumin was significantly lower in the homicidal patients than the controls when adjusted for age, body-mass index and smoking status. Univariate and stepwise multivariate regression models indicated that BIS-11 Non-planning, BWAQ Total, BWAQ Hostility and CAR were independent predictors of belonging to the homicidal patient group, after stepwise adjustment for all potential confounders. ConclusionsOur findings suggest that certain impulsive and aggressive traits as well as CAR, as a proxy marker of peripheral inflammation, may contribute towards homicidal tendencies and may predict a specific predisposition towards lethal violence in schizophrenia. The study highlights inflammation as a potential biological correlate of a specific behavioral phenotype (homicide) in schizophrenia.

Limiting managerial discretion by regulation: nursing homes and the national background check program

Structuring managerial discretion has been a key government policy tool in contemporary regulation and governance. This article explores how a policy that constrains managers’ discretion in recruitment influences the performance of public services. The National Background Check Program (NBCP) is a federal program aimed at strengthening states’ criminal background checks targeting direct patient access employees in nursing homes, where abuse, neglect and misappropriations have been a persistent concern. We combine secondary administrative panel data on Medicare and Medicaid certified nursing facilities with primary data collected from states on their NBCP efforts. We find that NBCP participation, funding and the implementation of fingerprinting requirement, in particular, are associated with fewer deficiencies and higher star ratings. These findings suggest that, while constraining managerial discretion, government regulation is an important tool that federal and state agencies can use to control the performance of public and private entities in some markets and provide market enhancing signals to consumers.

The loss of the soul and the myth of the living dead. A Jungian approach to a mental health problem in a public hospital in Buenos Aires.

This study is about the intervention carried out by a group of professionals from the Interdisciplinary Mental Health Team of the Emergencies Department in a public hospital in Buenos Aires City between 2017 and 2019. It arose from the need to respond to a public health problem related to the increasing number of patients living in situations involving homelessness, drug abuse, violent behaviour and criminal background. The multiple facets of this problem made us think about the impossibility of addressing it only in the individual sense of each patient. We were forced to admit that we were facing a problem of a complex, collective, social and institutional order, which the predominant medical model had neither been able to handle nor understand. We sought to include a Jungian approach to this contemporary problem found in large Latin American cities. Amplifying a symbolic base allowed us to understand creatively the complexity of the phenomenon, which could not be read in any manner other than the social and collective.

The Proliferation of Criminal Background Check Laws in the United States

Criminal record checks have become a widely used method for governing access to institutional attachments in the United States. State laws that authorize or require the use of background checks serve as one important source of criminal records’ expanded reach. The current study uses novel longitudinal data to examine the proliferation of these laws at the state level between 1982 and 2013. Panel analyses provide the strongest support for a model of racial classification, with the rate of background check adoption increasing as African-Americans represent larger shares of state criminal record populations. Considerable support is also found for racial economic threat and, to a lesser extent, ethnic economic threat. Background check adoption is only weakly associated with violent crime rates and other features of state-level penal regimes.

Do Criminality and Socioeconomic Stress Hinder Economic Development of an Emerging Southeast Asian Economy?

The primary objective of this research is to investigate how factors such as criminal activity, social and economic pressures, and economic growth in Thailand interact with one another. In order for the study to be successful, the ARDL methodology was used. In order to conduct its analysis of the data, ARDL IV considered both the near and the far future. The work of a lot of scholars have allowed us to compile this information spanning 37 years, from 1979 to 2015. The findings demonstrated that a significant amount of focus is placed on the roles that crime serves, in particular as a barrier to the progression of economic growth. As a result of economic crime, even more money is lost, and highly skilled people are more inclined to quit their positions, making it an even more problematic situation than the gray market. The previous results imply that there is a positive association between socioeconomic stress and some features that are associated to criminal behavior. The deterrent factors, with the exception of the person's criminal background, all functioned as expected for the other variables. There was evidence to imply that there was an increase in property crime when families were unstable. The dissatisfaction, anger, and stress of the people in Thailand are represented in the socioeconomic elements that prevail in the country, as shown by the association between socioeconomic stress and variables related to crime. People come up with creative solutions to make ends meet when their quality-of-life lowers as a result of the social and economic situations in their environment. The study will help policymakers and practitioners better understand the obstacles faced by socioeconomic restrictions in emerging countries like Thailand
 

Multi-method Examination of Elder Mistreatment in the Age of COVID-19

A multi-method study exposed COVID-19 influence on the pre-existing epidemic of elder mistreatment in Utah. We found changes in 1) abuse types, 2) service responses, 3) firearm access and 4) policy implications. Gun sales were tracked by news surveillance and FBI National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) for pre-pandemic (2018/2019) and pandemic years (2020/2021). New requests for permits skyrocketed during the pandemic. The 2021 Utah State Legislature loosened restrictions on concealed permits. Domestic violence (DV) Fatality Tracker Data in pre-covid years were compared to 2020-2021. A figure illustrates the prevalence of DV fatalities, ages of victims by year and methods used. We conducted 15 in-depth interviews of stake holders who serve DV victims (shelters, police, etc.). DV shelters had a relative lack of children during the pandemic, but increased use by older persons 60+. Susceptibility to chronic respiratory distress syndrome, required social distance for older persons. DV shelters obtained CARES Act funds to adapt solutions, like placing victims in hotel rooms. Most victims stayed at home, confined with abuser(s), some without technology, so isolation decreased their safety. Evidence suggests some fatalities among elder adults. A case study during the pandemic described a 73-year-old mother’s suspicious bank account activity. Bank employees sent police to her home. She was missing, but her co-resident adult son was in possession of her bank cards. She was later found in a shallow grave. Utah households have increased risks of DV fatalities in the wake of the pandemic and for years to come.

Before and After Ban the Box: Who Complies with Anti-Discrimination Law?

Ban the Box (BTB) laws are an anti-discrimination policy intended to promote employment for persons with criminal records. However, research on law and organizations shows that firms often fail to comply with legal directives or engage in symbolic compliance that fails to alter day-to-day business practices. We consider whether BTB contributed to attitudinal or behavioral shifts among hiring managers and changes in job applications. We analyze a unique set of in-depth interviews (N = 30) and entry-level job applications (N = 305) collected from the same workplaces in 2008 and 2016, assessing the impact of state BTB legislation. We find: (1) that one in five organizations were noncompliant, with noncompliance twice as likely among employers who discriminated against applicants with criminal records pre-BTB and that widespread lack of knowledge and lack of enforcement of BTB appears to affect noncompliance; (2) organizations maintained considerable continuity in hiring practices and attitudes between 2008 and 2016, regardless of personnel changes and statewide implementation of BTB; and (3) post-BTB, strong warnings about criminal background checks at later stages of the hiring process emerged as an alternative source of gatekeeping. These findings contribute to the law and organizations literature by highlighting the importance of enforcement and limits of law for combating discrimination.

‘If I don't get a job in six months' time, I can see myself being back in there’: Post‐prison employment experiences of people in Canberra

AbstractResearch has consistently shown that gaining employment after release helps to reduce recidivism, but also that people who have been in prison face many barriers to finding secure employment. This article presents qualitative data from the experiences of 11 people who had been released from prison in the Australian Capital Territory. We focus on the challenges these participants encountered with obtaining employment post‐release, including not having access to suitable housing, criminal background checks, managing post‐release commitments (such as attending substance abuse rehabilitation appointments) and a lack of confidence in approaching potential employers. Consequently, we recommend that policymakers ensure that there is a dedicated specialised employment team within the custodial environment providing individualised support for both unsentenced and sentenced people, both while they are incarcerated and post‐release.

Race, Criminal Records, and Discrimination Against Job Seekers: Examining Attitudinal Mechanisms

Regardless of why it happens, racial discrimination is damaging and unacceptable. Efforts to reduce discrimination, however, are most successful when we understand the mechanisms that give rise to it. Building on the observation that employers are members of the public, we examine two attitudinal mechanisms that may foster discriminatory employment practices in the context of criminal background checks: stereotypes and threat-based animus. First, we estimate public perceptions of arrest prevalence using two nationwide surveys. Next, we experimentally test the effects of two racially threatening primes—Census projections about a coming majority-minority America, and information about the prison population’s racial composition—on attitudes toward hiring job applicants with criminal records. Consistent with statistical discrimination theory, respondents identify black males as having the highest arrest prevalence. Respondents are less accurate, however, when it comes to gender differences: they underestimate arrest prevalence for black, Hispanic, and white males, and tend to overestimate it for females. On the other hand, our experiments provide little evidence of an effect of threat-based animus: racially threatening primes that are influential in other contexts do not significantly impact attitudes about hiring applicants with criminal records.