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Potential of Redemption in Criminal Background Checks (2010)

Blusmstein, Alfred and Kiminori Nakamura.

While this is a fairly statistical driven study, it is one of the few that takes a close look at criminal background checks and their negative impact on employment. The authors intend 'to provide guidance on the possibility of 'redemption,' (which [they] define as the process of lifting the burden of the prior record), and to provide guidance on how one may estimate when such redemption is appropriate' (p. 2). Before a detailed analysis of this study's data, an introduction covers the prevalence of criminal background checking and criminal records and the relevance of criminal history. The report then examines redemption and follows with a discussion of policy implications. At a certain point the individual that had a criminal record is of no greater risk than someone without a record. This moment is called 'redemption time' and is based on variables related to the individual offender.

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