Public attitudes towards the employment of ex-offenders with a disability

Ex-prisoners often face significant challenges in their efforts to find meaningful and stable work, undermining their chances of successful reintegration back into the community. These problems are likely to be compounded for those who have an intellectual disability (ID), given evidence that the disabled generally experience high levels of discrimination when applying for and maintaining jobs. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether members of the public hold different attitudes and expectations towards the employment of ex-offenders who have an ID and a history of criminal offending.

Samples of 642 participants, recruited via social media, were presented with vignettes, and then completed a short survey designed to measure their attitudes and expectations towards the employment of ex-offenders.

Whilst the presence of a mild ID did not significantly affect community attitudes towards ex-offender employment, it did change expectations about employment outcomes.

It appears that ex-offenders are perceived as a homogenous group of people, despite actual and substantial differences existing within this population.

There is a need to actively educate the community about differences between subgroups of ex-offenders in relation to the employment needs of those with an ID.

The social inclusion of ex-offenders with an ID lies at the heart of any effective and progressive criminal justice policy.

This is one of the only studies that has examined public attitudes towards this group.