Marked: Race, Crime, and Finding Work in an Era of Mass
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Pager, Devah, PUBLISHER: University of Chicago Press, Nearly every job application asks it: have you ever been convicted of a crime? For the hundreds of thousong>anong>ds of young men leaving Americong>anong> prisons each year, their ong>anong>swer to that question may determine whether they cong>anong> find work ong>anong>d begin rebuilding their lives. The product of ong>anong> innovative field experiment, "Marked" gives us our first real glimpse into the tremendous difficulties facing ex-offenders in the job market. Devah Pager matched up pairs of young men, rong>anong>domly assigned them criminal records, then sent them on hundreds of real job searches throughout the city of Milwaukee. Her applicong>anong>ts were attractive, articulate, ong>anong>d capable--yet ex-offenders received less thong>anong> half the callbacks of the equally qualified applicong>anong>ts without criminal backgrounds. Young black men, meong>anong>while, paid a particularly high price: those with cleong>anong> records fared no better in their job searches thong>anong> white men just out of prison. Such shocking barriers to legitimate work, Pager contends, are ong>anong> importong>anong>t reason that mong>anong>y ex-prisoners soon find themselves back in the realm of poverty, underground employment, ong>anong>d crime that led them to prison in the first place. "Using scholarly research, field research in Milwaukee, ong>anong>d graphics, Pager] shows that ex-offenders, white or black, stong>anong>d a very poor chong>anong>ce of getting a legitimate job.... Both informative ong>anong>d convincing."--"Library Journal""" ""Marked" is that rare book: a penetrating text that rings with moral concern couched in vivid prose--ong>anong>d one of the most useful sociological studies in years."--Michael Eric Dyson