Why Felons Fail

In his article, Removing the Stigma of Past Incarceration: Ban the Box, Bill Mosley explains it is “understandable that many employers may believe it is their best interest to avoid hiring ex-convicts. But it is also in the interest of society at large to reintegrate ex-convicts into society and to stop adding to the large underclass of former prisoners with minimal prospects of earning an honest living.” Mosley acknowledges the discomfort an employer may experience knowing one of their employees have a criminal history, however he supports his opinion by immediately explaining the most effective medium of reducing the number of former prisoners in society is to integrate them into the working force. His purport in this piece of text is to accentuate the importance society as a whole has in terms of eliminating criminal discrimination. In addition to Mosley’s argument, Daryl V. Atkinson and Kathleen Lockwood, in their article The Benefits of Ban the Box, claim that “hiring people with criminal records facilitates public safety by reducing recidivism rates.”

The article “Prisoner Reentry in a Small Metropolitan Community: Obstacles and Policy Recommendations” by Brett Garland, Eric J. Wodahl, and Julie Mayfield explains how the study proves that rehabilitation services provided during imprisonment for inmates that are going to reentry society are beneficial. In the study 43 male offenders were asked to identify which programs help them or that can help them to reentry society. It is mention in the article that the main obstacles male offenders face after reentering includes employment and reconnection with their

“Illegal Immigrants” are deported every day due to various reasons. Many of them with family ties to US citizens. If we “welcome” back to society to reformed felons, why are we so harsh to “reformed felons” that are on deportation proceedings with family ties to the US? While I agree felonies should not be taken lightly, what would an immigrant convicted of a felony needs to do to show reformation and should the US allow this individuals to stay in the US with their families with legal status? Why?

Felon Rights: Many people take voting for granted; many will argue that voting is a privilege not a right, as this is true among many counties. Here in the United States everyone at the age of eighteen gains their right to vote. Right now roughly 4 Million Americans will not be allowed to Vote in the United States. These people are felons that have served their debt to society.

After leaving prison, a felon is already viewed as not as important as a citizen who has never committed a crime. It can be very difficult to participate and take part in community activities such as getting a job. Felons feel unimportant and unwanted. It is unjust for felons to be treated this way. Several people who have been incarcerated have been interviewed on this topic.

For both groups, once they have made amends for their mistake, their life doesn’t go back to normal. Instead, these labels follow them, making it hard to get a job or get back into society. As said in the Washington Post article “Our criminal justice system is making it really hard to people to find jobs,” “…our criminal justice system makes it harder for those who have made mistakes to fully atone for their deeds and rejoin the productive segment of society” (Blanks 2). Once people get out of jail, they are still not free from punishment. It is harder to get a job, especially a good one, if someone was an ex-offender.

When a person is described as a felon it “presents a significant barrier to reintegration” (Labels). Labels create harmful stereotypes that place expectations on people that are hard to break. Once labeled, felons are forever regarded as such. This places so much power into one word. This power then denies “people with criminal records jobs, housing, education” and other resources in life (Labels).

When people get out of prison they are afraid of going back. They don't have a reason to change. Most people don't have a way of even getting a job once there out as stated here, ”I work in a medium security prison in North Carolina that serves young men ages 18 to 25. There is one segment of our population that no program addresses. This is the group that will probably never be able to get a GED, and therefore they do not qualify for many of the programs designed to help with job

Housing becomes a struggle if you have a criminal record, landlord will tend to not rent to you. Landlords are often charged less fees to not rent to people with a criminal record. This will force addicts to return to communities that have higher drug and crime rates. It’s almost impossible for addicts to stay sober and away from a life of crime when forced back into that environment. It seems that we set addicts up for failure when we give them treatment and turn around and send them back into the situation that got them to begin

Life after incarceration, here today gone tomorrow. 95% of adults sentenced to prison will return to our communities, and reentry will be their first step back into society. Imagine have a thousand questions flooding one’s mind all at once. Where will I live, how will I survive, and contribute to the family, while maintaining to the stipulations of one’s parole/ probation, without risking freedom. The number one goal for those newly released back into society by way of the reentry program is to never return to the inside of a prison cell.

This being said, how it would help the economy to have many people with criminal records out of prison and not be able to get jobs? This would

Many civil rights groups agreed with this question and attempted to make changes by creating a national campaign called Ban the Box. Ban the Box is a campaign whose goal is to persuade employers to remove the felony box from their applications to give ex-convicts a fair chance at acquiring a job ("Moving Forward Together: Forging a Future That Works for All Workers"). Although this may seem scary to an employer, which is understandable, it can potentially end the endless negative feedback loop, and help people move

Within the urban communities, negative perceptions are magnified. Adolescents are more prone to be a product of their environment, especially those whose parents are incarcerated. Because of this trend adolescents are being incarcerated at an alarming rate and sentenced to adult facilities. Lambie & Randall (2013) states, the United States have imposed harsher penalties on serious young offenders, and have consequently increased rates of incarcerated youth and made it easier for youth to be treated and incarcerated as adults within the justice

Society has made it difficult for felons to continue their life in a positive way. Many felons are prevented from any success which crucially affects their well being.

It is not always easy for ex-inmates to successfully receive and hold down a job, though. On job applications, potential employees are often asked if they have any felony charges. Even though the application says that a positive answer to the question will not immediately disqualify them from the hiring process, but it does not look good to have a felony on their record. Therefore, some ex-inmates may resort to easy yet illegal activities to earn income, such as selling