What Is A Criminal Record And Its Consequences

Employers want to avoid problems like embezzlement, violence, rape, torture, terrorist acts in the work place at all costs. It still happens, no matter what precautions a business takes and that means the business loses a lot of money. When I first started investigating this subject matter I even had to ask the question: "What is a criminal record?" I had no idea it was such a long drawn out process for an employer.

A way that businesses have found to control this problem is by conducting criminal record checks. What is a criminal record then? A criminal record is the information that county, district and federal courts have in regards to an individual that has committed a crime. These records are kept on file for approximately 10 years, and longer for individuals that have sexual indictments against them.

What is a criminal record and is it ethical to keep this information and let employers use it?

This is a hard question to answer because if you look at the situation from the stand point of other individuals and of the employer, then yes, they want to know if someone that is going to work for them has some kind of criminal history, and co workers want to know that they are safe from strange people that might commit a crime. The last thing you want to do is go to work and have someone commit some sort of violent crime against you.

What is a Criminal Record and How does it affect the Criminal?

Lets say you are a normal person, but a few years ago you got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. You might have been in a car with a friend, who was hiding drugs in the car and suddenly you are implicated as well. This will give you a criminal record. A record which will be pulled up every time you look for a decent job, or when you want to be licensed for something. This will seriously affect your future. Is this fair? No, it is obviously not fair. What is the middle ground? That is the question that is being discussed by many in legislator because of the complaints from the civil liberties groups.

What if you are the person who actually did commit the crime? You did your time, you reflected what happened. You realized that crime does not pay, and you are out to change your ways. The only problem is, is that you can't change your ways because society will not let you.

You can not find a decent paying job because society will not let you. Every employer you go to needs to pull your criminal record. And the information comes up, and you are automatically disqualified. No questions asked!

What is a Criminal Record and what are the Options for People who have them?

That leaves us with the options that an ex criminal has. What can he do? What are his job options?

He can continue in the criminal field, after all he has already started this career path and has some experience in it. If he is careful he may be able to continue robbing and stealing for a long time.

He can take a ten year vacation; go to another place or another country. Live off of welfare and tax dollars that way. He can live in shelters; eat from trash bins, etc.

He may be able to get this great minimum wage job that he must work at for ten years and not seek a promotion of any kind, because when he does then his criminal record will be pulled, and he will be fired from even the minimum wage job.

In Conclusion how do we truly answer the question "what is a criminal record?" As of now it is a death sentence for any person that wants to enter society in a normal way. Today reformed criminals have to be creative in the way they earn a living. They either have to be self employed or work for very small amount of money. There is no real solution and that is what we as a society need to work on.

Criminal Record