about | Afterlives Project

| ABOUT

THE AFTERLIVES OF CONVICTION PROJECT IS A RESEARCH-BASED PUBLIC EDUCATION INITIATIVE EXPLORING THE HUMAN IMPACT OF CRIMINAL CONVICTION.

Through the lens of employment, the project aims to deepen understanding of the lasting effects of conviction and examine the systems, policies, and practices that uphold the discriminatory use of criminal records. In collaboration with people and organizations working to increase work opportunities, the project seeks pivot points between academic research and on-the-ground work, making scholarship available to organizers, educators, and policymakers in accessible and useful ways.

PROJECT BACKGROUND

The Afterlives of Conviction website features core insights generated from ethnographic research conducted by anthropologist Dr. Melissa Burch. Burch's initial study beginning in 2014 engaged local business owners, hiring managers, HR professionals, and job seekers with felony convictions in southern California to examine the use of background checks in hiring (The Criminal Record Complex: Risk, Race, and the Struggle for Work in America). Additional studies have explored grassroots approaches to prisoner (re)entry, enduring conviction-based employment discrimination, and barriers facing formerly incarcerated firefighters.

PEOPLE

Many people – students, scholars, organizers, artists and designers, advocates, attorneys, and formerly imprisoned people – have contributed their expertise, insight, skills, and labor to this project. In particular:

RESEARCH AND DESIGN

MELISSA BURCH

Assistant Professor of Anthropology,

University of Michigan

Director, Afterlives of Conviction Project

CHARLOTTE SMITH

Political Science Ph.D. Student at the University of Michigan whose research focuses on state sanctioned and fostered structural and physical violence.

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TIMOTHY KULAWIAK

Musician and outdoor leader from Northern California. Recent graduate of the University of Michigan in anthropology and clarinet performance.

SOPHIE ORDWAY

Data & Policy Fellow for the Youth Policy, holds a MSW with a focus on Policy and Program Evaluation from the University of Michigan and a BA in English and Women’s Studies from Marist College.