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Black Ex-Felons Are Slow to Vouch for Other Former Offenders
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
04 May 2020
🖨️ Print Article

Margaret Kimberley · Black Ex-Felons Are Slow to Vouch for Other Former Offenders

Contrary to the conventional wisdom, Black former offenders “need to see strong evidence" that the formerly incarcerated person has really changed, said Sandra Susan Smith, a University of California professor of sociology who did a study on the subject. Smith discovered that ex-offenders who have good jobs are reluctant to put their own reputations at risk by vouching for recently released friends and relatives. The employed ex-offender’s attitude is, “If I don’t see evidence of real change, then I’m not doing anything.”

Mass Black Incarceration

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