48 RECOVERY SPECIAL: EMPLOYING EX-OFFENDERS
but as soon as you mention ‘criminal record’, even for a low-tariff criminal offence, the prejudice comes in. It’s very much like people with mental health problems. If you have suffered a nervous breakdown or depression, as soon as it’s mentioned at HR level then people shut the door – because they are afraid of what they don’t understand” Whether it’s prejudice, fear or discrimination, aversion to employing an individual with a criminal record is not only ingrained into UK business protocol, it’s actively encouraged by the stringent measures laid out by the CRB. “Anyone can discriminate against a reformed offender – there’s no penalty for that,” says Cummines. “When these people are locked out of industry, there is only one industry left for them to turn to – the criminal industry. Surely people would rather have reformed offenders as taxpayers themselves, rather than a burden to taxpayers?” UNLOCK works to achieve equality for people with convictions and help reintegrate them into society, improving access to things like bank accounts and insurance and linking people to services such as help fi nding somewhere to live. “Th is is all basic stuff that the general populace takes for granted. Without a bank account it is pretty impossible to get employment, so Unemployed we’ve worked at convincing the banks to ex-offenders are give just basic bank accounts to serving twice as likely to prisoners on their way out, and former return to a life of offenders already on the street.” A small, crime compared positive step, but still not enough.
Altering attitudes
to those who find employment after leaving jail.
As part of his work with the UK government, Cummines has held conversations with lawmakers on the need for reforming the current rehabilitation act. “As advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office under John Prescott, we [Cummines and John Denham of the Select Committee] found that if a person hadn’t committed a crime within around two years of release, their risk of re-offending was the same as a regular guy on the street,” he says. “However, because this message wasn’t politically palatable, and it would have been unacceptable to the media, there was no appetite for policy change. That was 2002 and only now are we getting into serious discussions with Government about adopting policy that is based on evidence. At the moment it’s the CRB, in effect, that is keeping people in crime rather than protecting the public from crime.” Not all offenders go to prison, so ex-prisoners are in a much smaller minority than those who simply have a couple of misdemeanours on their record. However, not all ex-prisoners are murderers, molesters, drug addicts or rapists. Many have simply made one mistake in their past and wish to move on with their lives. Prison punishes them, but also attempts to rehabilitate them. A lot of hard work and expense goes in to doing so – hard work and expense that is being undermined, Barrett argues, by society’s misplaced perception.
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