The Prison Credential Dilemma

Terrance Simon, courtesy Louisiana Parole Project

Since Terrance Simon got out of the Louisiana State Penitentiary last year, he’s mentally prepared himself for the fact that his record might mean he doesn’t get the job when talking to prospective employers.

“I go into a job interview with the mindset that they’re going to know, and they’re going to tell me no because of it,” he said. “That’s the worst case scenario.”

Simon is always honest about his conviction – but only if interviewers ask. “I don’t lie,” he said.

“But I won’t tell you the truth if I don’t have a reason to. If I see someone hinting at the possibility that I have any criminal record, I’m gonna be forthcoming with it, and give it all to you.”

He explains why he went to prison, but also what he’s done since then. “Yes, I’ve been to jail but this is who I became because of it,” he said.

“I don’t want to just leave you with the fact that I’m a convicted felon, and leave you restin’ on your own assumptions.”

In Simon’s case, he was hired as a reentry specialist at the Louisiana Parole Project, a nonprofit in Baton Rouge, precisely because of his background. But that’s not the case for everyone who has been to prison.

New research out of Cornell University looks at the conundrum that many formerly incarcerated job seekers like Simon face, which sociologist Sadé Lindsay calls “the prison credential dilemma.”

They have to decide whether to share the job training and educational certificates they did in prison – or not.

“Credentials acquired in prison may not be perceived by others as purely positive qualifications,” said Lindsay, who is a postdoctoral associate in policy analysis and management at Cornell.

In her research, Lindsay found that formerly incarcerated people often have little insight into employers’ perceptions of prison credentials, which can include GEDs, college degrees, industry-recognized programs, and vocational certificates.

That is what makes navigating the labor market so difficult for this population, she said.

“Imagine trying to make an important decision with no information to work with,” she said. “For formerly incarcerated people, this lack of information about employers’ perceptions is even more costly.”

If formerly incarcerated job seekers don’t list relevant work and education experience acquired in prison, they may not have other qualifications that make them attractive as candidates. At the same time, employers might use prison credentials to screen formerly incarcerated people out of the applicant pool, Lindsay said.

The study, “Damned if you do, damned if you don’t: How formerly incarcerated men navigate the labor market with prison credentials,” was published in Criminology in February.

Lindsay interviewed 50 formerly incarcerated men in Ohio about how they used their prison credentials in their job search strategies.

The study draws heavily on existing research about racism, criminal records, and employment.

“Black and Hispanic populations, regardless of a criminal record, face an immense number of barriers to employment due to historical structural racism and racial discrimination,” Lindsay said.

In the article, Lindsay cites previous research that shows that white men with a felony are as likely to be called back by an employer as Black men without a felony record.

“When thinking about prison credentials, they are supposed to signal job readiness, desistance from crime, and other positive qualities,” Lindsay said.

“However, the very fact that Black and Hispanic returning citizens deal with racial discrimination in addition to criminal record discrimination means that prison credentials may not help them overcome these deeply ingrained stereotypes.”

Lindsay also looks at how the men did – or did not – choose to share information about their prison credentials with prospective employers.

Many listed degrees and other certifications they earned while incarcerated, but did not share where they earned them.

Mark, one of the interviewees, assumed that employers wouldn’t see a degree earned inside as good as one earned on the outside.

Another formerly incarcerated job applicant, Thomas, said of his resume, “What I’m putting on there is …‘Perryville College.’ I’m not saying ‘in prison’.”

Others said they’d talk about it when they had a chance to sit down with an employer face-to-face.

“What it look like when you going to have a prison written down?” Nick said. “Nah, we’ll talk about that during the interview.”

Eight of the 50 participants Lindsay interviewed had a college degree (two of which were earned in prison) and 10 had some college experience.

She said that when people with some college encountered difficulties finding work, they were more likely to see education as a viable pathway toward a career.

“Those with less education tended to pursue temporary, precarious work as a way to work their way up into a permanent position,” Lindsay said.

“While people with some college education also pursued this type of poor-quality work, they did so to simply survive and knew these jobs were exploitative and would not lead to a lucrative career.”

Lindsay argues that the prison credential dilemma highlights the limitations of policy solutions such as ban the box, fair chance, criminal record expungement, and concealment laws.

Even in places where employers are prohibited from doing background checks, criminal records can still come out through job applications and interview questions about employment and educational histories.

“By focusing on ‘the box’ and formal background checks, we miss how prison credentials themselves can inadvertently work to maintain ‘the box’ throughout the job search process in these oft-overlooked ways,” Lindsay said. “Our solutions must account for these possibilities to see meaningful change.”

Lindsay will be giving a webinar on the prison credential dilemma on Thursday, April 14th at 12 pm EST. More information here.

 Charlotte West, a John Jay Justice Reporting fellow, is a national reporter with Open Campus. This article was originally published in College Inside, a biweekly newsletter about the future of post-secondary education in prisons, and is reproduced with permission. Sign up for the College Inside newsletter here.