The Ban the Box movement seeks the removal of felony status questions from employment applications and, more recently, in higher education. The time is now to address the use of these questions within professional psychology. In February 2022, 94% of APA Council of Representatives members voted to remove the felony status question from all APA membership applications. The APA legislation, which received the support of 77 co-signers, expanded a pilot program that earlier removed the felony status question from all undergraduate applications. In May 2022, Division 31 leadership voted unanimously to encourage all state, provincial, and territorial psychological associations (SPTAs) to also make the change. We have started contacting each SPTA to determine if they have a felony status question on their application and, if so, whether they are interested in removing it. But why is this change important?
Prior incarceration is a source of stigma and bias (Feingold, 2021; U.S. Department of Education, 2016), despite there being no research studies conducted to suggest that formerly justice-involved psychologists (which includes psychologists who have been charged or convicted of a prior felony) are more likely to commit ethical or legal violations than their counterparts (Wilcox & Taylor, 2022). Felony status questions have a disparate and long-lasting impact and deter well-qualified applicants from higher education and professional opportunities that can contribute to their success.
Researchers have also argued that “requiring a disclosure of one’s criminal history may be more security theater than an actual security measure. As such, required criminal history disclosure may not serve its intended purpose and yet serves a substantial barrier to justice-involved individuals’ opportunities to obtain higher education, and subsequently, opportunities in professional psychology” (Wilcox & Taylor, 2022). These questions can have a chilling effect and result in re-traumatization and an immediate stop to the application process. Also, the questions most affect those who honestly self-report prior convictions. Individuals who have committed crimes that have gone unreported or did not lead to conviction, or those who simply do not check the box, do not face such barriers to membership. Furthermore, most of these screening tools focus only on felony convictions, ignoring civil actions such as sexual harassment.
The U.S. Department of Education (2016) has stated that a criminal background disclosure requirement disproportionately affects people of color due to racial disparities in school punishment as well as over-policing of communities of color. Removing the felony status question will make SPTAs’ application procedures more consistent with recent APA guidance, including the APA EDI Framework (APA, 2021a), 2021 “Apology to People of Color for APA’s Role in Promoting, Perpetuating, and Failing to Challenge Racism, Racial Discrimination, and Human Hierarchy in U.S.” (APA, 2021b), 2021 Resolution on Harnessing Psychology to Combat Racism: Adopting a Uniform Definition and Understanding” (APA, 2021c), and 2021 Resolution on the “Role of Psychology and APA in Dismantling Systemic Racism Against People of Color in the U.S.” (APA, 2021d), and result in a positive impact on diversity within professional psychology.
In advocating for the APA change, we heard a small number of psychologists express concern with removing the question. One concern regarded how it would affect future decisions of SPTAs, APA, or licensing boards. Removing a felony status question does not affect licensure decisions and does not limit how APA or licensing boards can respond to future acts. It does, however, remove an unnecessary hurdle for individuals with prior convictions who have already served their court-imposed sanction and seek to make a difference, including within professional psychological associations. Another concern was that formerly justice-involved psychologists are more likely to commit ethical or legal violations than their counterparts. However, research does not support that presumption, which is based on a deficit view that diminishes people’s humanity, life chances, and opportunities for change. In weighing the benefits and concerns with removing the felony status question, almost all of APA Council voted to remove the question. We encourage each SPTA to do the same. If we can be of any assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us – Jason Cantone or Terrill Taylor.
For further reading, please see:
Wilcox, M. M., & Taylor, T. O. (2022). Ban the box: Addressing effects of systemic racism on justice-involved individuals in pathways to professional psychology. Training and Education in Professional Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/tep0000407opens in new window
This work is completed in Cantone’s capacity as an adjunct professor at George Mason University and not affiliated with his employment at the Federal Judicial Center. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and are not the views of the Federal Judicial Center or its board. Terrill Taylor is a doctoral candidate in the Counseling Psychology program at the University of North Dakota. He is a formerly justice-involved individual that conducts research on issues of social justice, particularly as it pertains to race, discrimination and oppression, intersectionality, and restorative justice.