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Episode 80. Finding Employment with a Criminal Record with Mateus Santos, Chae Jaynes, and Danielle Thomas

It’s Episode 80 of The Criminology Academy podcast! On today’s episode, we have Professor Mateus Santos, Professor Chae Jaynes, and doctoral student Danielle Thomas on the podcast to speaks with us about the challenges of having a criminal record and finding employment!

Mateus Santos is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminology at the University of South Florida, in the United States. His current research focuses on trends in crime and justice, comparative criminology, crime policy, and quantitative methods. He has published more than 40 peer-reviewed articles in outlets such as: CriminologyJournal of Research in Crime and DelinquencyJournal of Quantitative CriminologyCriminology & Public PolicySocial Science Research, and PLOS ONE. He is a frequent consultant for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), based in Austria, developing comparative data and analysis. Dr. Santos was previously a researcher at the Center for Crime and Public Safety Studies (CRISP), and a research advisor for the State Government of Minas Gerais (Brazil). He holds a PhD in Criminology and Criminal Justice from the University of Maryland (USA), and both an MA in Sociology and a BA in Social Sciences from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (Brazil).

Chae Jaynes is an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminology at the University of South Florida. Her research focuses on labor market decision making where she considers outcomes such as the decision to offend or to hire someone with a criminal record. She has published in outlets such as: CriminologyJournal of Research in Crime and DelinquencyJournal of Quantitative CriminologyJustice Quarterly, and Social Science Research. She earned her PhD in Criminology and Criminal Justice from the University of Maryland, and both an MA in Criminal Justice and a BA in Economics from Michigan State University.

Danielle Thomas is a Ph.D. student at the University of South Florida in the Department of Criminology. She received her B.A. in Criminology and Psychology, as well as her M.A. in Criminology from the University of South Florida. Ms. Thomas is a lead research assistant for the CREATE (Crime Etiology and Treatment Evaluation) Lab. Ms. Thomas also facilitates a life-skills reentry program at a Florida state prison and works with many criminal justice stakeholders in the Tampa Bay area to facilitate successful reentry efforts for returning citizens. Her research interests include corrections, reentry and recidivism, program evaluation, and the employment-crime relationship.

Click Play Below to Listen to Episode Eighty!
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Episode Transcriptions Available Below for Download: Word (.docx) and PDF (.pdf)

Screenshot During the Podcast Recording – August 8, 2023

Get in touch with Mateus:
University of South Florida Website // rennosantos AT usf.edu // Twitter

Get in touch with Chae:
University of South Florida Website // jaynes AT usf.edu // Twitter

Get in touch with Danielle:
University of South Florida Website // dmthomas AT usf.edu // Twitter

This is the article authored by Mateus, Chae, and Danielle that was discussed in this episode of The Crim Academy:
Santos, M. R., Jaynes, C. M., & Thomas, D. M. (2023). How to overcome the cost of a criminal record for getting hired. Criminology. [Article Link].

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