No second chances for ex-offenders
Featured in the Valuing Diversity at Work training manual
By Ken Birkett & Val Rowland
Category: Diversity
Credit price: 3 download credits (Single user)
This training activity explores some employment issues for people with criminal records. Civilised societies require citizens, for the sake of all, to live within a set of rules. If we step outside these and are detected, we are punished. After serving the punishment, depending on the sentence, we are considered to be ‘rehabilitated’ and can say we do not have a criminal record. In the UK over five million people, a fifth of the working population, do have a criminal record. The effects of this are three-fold. From the ex-offender’s point of view there is high unemployment, much of which may be due to excessive caution and prejudice by employers. This amounts to a further punishment for the original crime. From the employer’s viewpoint, as a consequence of over caution and prejudice, people are being wasted. The effect of this may lead to further crime, with its costs to all, as well as wasted skills.
You begin this training activity with background information and statistics about offenders. It makes reference to the rehabilitation of offenders act, and in particular to the disclosure of a criminal record. The participants then investigate the barriers to employing ex-offenders and the consequences for employers, in terms of wastage, and for ex-offenders who lose the opportunity to lead a conventional and useful life. The participants’ next concern is to explore ways of removing irrational barriers to employing ex-offenders by looking at specific areas of concern for employers. You review the key points of the training activity in a final summary of the issues involved in the employment of ex-offenders.
Who is it for: This training resource is intended for use by trainers to examine issues concerning the employment of people with a criminal record from the view point of the employer and the ex-offender and to consider the barriers to employing ex-offenders.
| Resource Type: | Activity |
| Min Group Size: | 4 |
| Max Group Size: | 12 |
| Typical Duration: | 01:45:00 |
| No of Pages: | 19 |
Resources: View standard resources for Fenman training activities
Purpose: This training resource is intended for use by trainers as part of a recruitment and selection course and useful in management training or as part of an equal opportunities package.
Download the training activity, No second chances for ex-offenders as featured in the Fenman training manual; Valuing Diversity at Work