Ruim baan? Uitsluiting en zelfuitsluiting van de arbeidsmarkt

Abstract

Exclusion and self-exclusion from the labor market

In the Netherlands, the number of criminal record screenings performedeach year skyrocketed to more than one million. Yet, empiricalevidence on its effects has been largely absent. In this article theauthor addresses parts of the findings of her PhD research, whichaimed to fill this gap, by providing a subjective perspective of howhaving a criminal record impacts the process of re-entry into society,particularly into the labor market, for young adults. It is based on thelived experiences of 31 young adults having a criminal record whowere followed during their process of reintegration into the labor market.The vivid, real-life stories of young adults’ strategies of dealingwith the stigma of a criminal record, and how this subsequently influencestheir position in the labor market, highlight the counterproductiveeffects of increasingly widespread criminal record screening. Theyprovide evidence that many young adults adopt self-exclusion as astrategy for avoiding rejection and exclusion.