Relationship between Race, Criminal Records and Employment Opportunities in the United States

The Test Results

The test involved matching white people who met the requirements for a particular position, but only some of them had criminal records while the others hadn’t. According to figure 5 in the American Journal of Sociology (20), when white testers applied for jobs using the aforementioned criteria, only 17% of those with criminal records received a callback while 34% of those without criminal records did, demonstrating a 50% reduction in the likelihood that a white man will be hired. Figure six (22) shows an audit where testers of both black and white races, with and without criminal records with similar qualifications applied for employment. 5% of blacks with criminal records 14% of blacks without criminal records, 17% of whites with criminal and 34% of whites without criminal records were called back. These results show that in the United States criminal records and race determine employment opportunities. Criminal records and being black reduce the chances of employment while no criminal records and being white increase the chances of employment.

Evidence Analysis

Yes the evidence is sufficient to explain the differences in the chances of obtaining a job based on criminal record and race because the new audit system is not biased. Today, the experimental audit approach matches individuals with the same qualifications who then apply for the same jobs at entry level in order to test the degree in which their criminal records or race affect each of their opportunities in the job market. The audit team picks criminals and non-criminals with the same qualifications at random and gets them to apply for the same job opportunity in organizations chosen at random without the interviewing panels being aware of the audit.

Impact of Criminal Record and Race

The test clearly shows that a white man with a criminal record has a greater chance of getting employment than a black man without a criminal record. The tests also show that for both blacks and whites, a criminal record greatly reduces the chance of employment. If the outcome is the same from all the test results obtained from various organizations, then it is evident that people with criminal records have approximately 50% and above chance of non-employment while African Americans suffer a higher level of unemployment than the whites in the United States of America.