The Collateral Consequences of Criminal Records

Description

The Criminal and Social Justice Research Cluster, in collaboration with Howard League Scotland, Student-Led Branch, at the University of Strathclyde, are pleased to host their second annual lecture.
The Collateral Consequences of Criminal Records
Speakers: Gerry Keogh, Founder of Unlock Employment; Keith Rosser, Chair of Release Scotland and Non-Executive Director, Disclosure Scotland; Dr. Andrew Henley, Asst. Professor of Criminology, University of Nottingham.
Chair: Dr. Cara Jardine, School of Social Work and Social Policy, University of Strathclyde.
Abstract:
Whether due to formal legal restrictions, or social stigma and associated forms of discrimination, the 'mark of a criminal record' (Pager, 2003) has significant consequences for people with convictions. The many and varied impacts and effects of criminal records has been referred to as an invisible and pervasive punishment, and a collateral consequence of contact with the justice system. These enduring consequences affect a significant proportion of the population across the U.K. A report by colleagues in SCCJR (2013) estimated that 'at least one third of the adult male population and nearly one in ten of the adult female population [of Scotland] is likely to have a criminal record'. Similarly, the charity UNLOCK has identified that there are over 11 million people with a criminal record in the U.K, equating to 1 in 6 people.
In this webinar, our presenters will discuss the collateral consequences of criminal records from different vantage points. Gerry Keogh is founder of UNLOCK EMPLOYMENT, a Community Interest Company, based in Govan, Glasgow. Drawing on his personal and professional experiences, Gerry recognises that the consequences of a criminal record affect differently situated people in diverse ways. Through UNLOCK EMPLOYMENT, Gerry actively supports people into employment, and in so doing, in his interactions with people with convictions and encounters with employers, actively seeks to dismantle both the self- and social stigma associated with a criminal record.
Keith Rosser is both Non-Executive Director of Disclosure Scotland, and Chair of Release Scotland. Release Scotland is a network of Scottish employers, which was started by a group of employers who recognised that employment can help people with convictions move on in life. Release Scotland includes members of the private, public and third sectors and actively supports the Ban the Box campaign, established by Business in the Community. Keith is a Group Director at Reed, the world's largest family-owned recruitment business who helped over 8000 people with convictions into work in 2019. As an active campaigner, Keith has unique insights into the issues and concerns of employers around the recruitment of people with convictions, and is a strong advocate for the contributions that people with convictions can make to businesses.
Dr Andrew Henley is one of the U.K's leading academic experts into the collateral consequences of criminal records. Andrew's doctoral thesis comprised a critical history of the legal rehabilitation of people with criminal records in England and Wales. In addition to his academic work, Andrew served as a trustee and later Chair on the board of the charity Unlock which provides information, advice and advocacy for people with convictions who are seeking to move forwards positively with their lives. Andrew's presentation will take us beyond the impacts and effects of criminal record on employment, to the wider consequences on people's access to the full rights of citizenship, exploring why the discrimination that people face is morally problematic, and setting out four principles that might comprise an alternative model of criminal records disclosure.

Period	25 Feb 2021
Event type	Conference