Date of Award
2024
Document Type
Capstone Project
Degree Name
Sociology, BA, BS
School
CAS
Department
McNair Scholars Program
Faculty Advisor
Carlos Monteiro
Abstract
How do Massachusetts policies impose collateral consequences for people with felony convictions and/or periods of incarceration? Previous research shows that having some form of a criminal record can make it harder to obtain housing, employment, and other sectors of life. Research was conducted to examine how Massachusetts policies restrict access to necessary resources that would otherwise allow returning citizens to become self-sufficient. Assessments were made regarding civic engagement, housing, higher education, employment, occupational licensing, and government assistance. The presence of a collateral consequence was based on whether a felony conviction was taken into consideration or served as a disqualifier, whether the disqualification time-limited, and if it was due to a felony conviction or a period of incarceration. It was found that a felony conviction was almost always in consideration for each category and while not explicitly listed as a disqualifier, it can often be grounds for denial. There are no policies that specifically protect people with criminal records from discrimination unless they are part of a protected class. Eliminating the role of bias in decision making concerning ex-offenders is necessary to offer equal opportunities after conviction and/or incarceration.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Subject Headings
ARRAY(0x6543fecc11e8)
Recommended Citation
Rivera, Nisa, "Collateral Consequences and the Bars Outside of Incarceration: An Assessment of Massachusetts State Policies Surrounding Reentry" (2024). Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects. 39.
https://dc.suffolk.edu/undergrad/39