Employment Vulnerability of Formerly-Incarcerated Workers

Grantee

Gretchen Purser, Syracuse University

Grant Type

Early Career Research Award

Description

Over the last decade, a robust body of scholarship has documented the barriers to employment faced by the formerly-incarcerated. This project complements that research by examining the actual experiences of the formerly-incarcerated on the job and at the workplace. Drawing upon in-depth, semi-structured interviews with formerly-incarcerated workers, this study aims to understand formerly-incarcerated workers’ vulnerability to degrading treatment and/or abusive conditions in the workplace. The project aims to furthermore understand the extent to which this vulnerability is exacerbated both for those on parole, who often face the extra-economic compulsion to document evidence of gainful employment, and during periods of economic recession.