Introduction
The emergence of Becker’s labeling theory provided a perspective of criminology in the 1960s, different from the 1800s’ view. Becker’s theory presents significant insights on how social labeling affects crime development and deviance. This theory posits that despite several conditions and causes being promoting initial crime and deviance, the first labeling of an individual as a felon by the society or the judicial system presents significant enduring negative effects in their lives. For instance, most individuals with a felony record, often experience stigma as a result of social and judicial stereotypes. As a result, these individuals may develop more deviance and are likely to become chronic criminals. Therefore, there are higher chances of most first-time felons committing crimes more frequently to prove the stereotypes right and gain psychological satisfaction. Undeniably, individuals who have faced incarceration have the limitations of the experience in employment, voting, civic and social participation.
Labeled Felons Suffer Employment Discrimination
With the current increase in the global population and advancements in technology, securing employment continues to become a popular challenge for many qualified job-seekers in most parts of the world. The employment problem becomes more profound to individuals with criminal records trying to seek employment. Findings from several researchers confirm individuals with past criminal records have reduced chances of securing when competing with law-abiding individuals (Dansby, 2019). Additional findings show that most employers fail to hire ex-convicts because they view former convicts as liabilities or possible threats to their customers. Most employers believe that ex-convicts are potential offenders and thus deny them employment opportunities. Dansby (2019), found that more than 90% of employers conducted background checks, and the majority reported that they were unwilling to hire people with a criminal record regardless of how minor the offense was. In addition, research by Vuolo et al. (2017), showed that women experience have higher chances of not securing employment after their release from jail compared to men. Therefore, labeling significantly deters an ex-convict from acquiring their career jobs despite their qualification, thus prompting them to return into crime.
Labelling Causes Temporary or Permanent Loss of an Individual’s Voting Rights
Additionally, past criminal records have damaging effects on an individual’s political participation. In countries such as the US, ex-convicts experience a prolonged but temporary loss of voting rights even after serving their sentences. Even though the US supreme courts argue that this measure is necessary to allow behavioral scrutiny of a felon by the judicial system, most ex-convicts view this as an injustice. Research by Miller, & Agnich (2016), found that in Florida, ex-felons are prevented from voting after the completion of their sentence until they go through a lengthy and in some cases impossible process of rights restoration. As a result, most Florida former convicts continue to face limited voting rights despite having completed their incarceration time. Findings from 54 interviews conducted by Miller, & Agnich (2016), found that 11% of the research population could not vote because they were minors, 60% voted while the rest did not have voting rights due to their past criminal records. The denial of voting rights to ex-convicts due to their label by the judicial system makes former felons experience persistent feelings of punishment, illegitimacy, and embarrassment.
Labelling Causes Stigmatization on the Felon
Moreover, most individuals with criminal labels are likely to return to crime after the first release because it is difficult for them to re-integrate with their societies. After release from incarceration for the first felon, most individuals fail to gain full acceptance by their families and communities. Society treats most ex-convicts with contempt and suspicion, which makes an ex-offender develop a stigma. Quinn-Hogan (2021), found that stigmatic labeling of ex-offenders disrupts their successful re-entry into the community. Another research also found that stigma resulting from criminal labeling leads to exclusion, shaming, and social withdrawal. Studies have shown that stigmatic labeling and shaming cause social withdrawal and exclusion (Keefe, 2018). When the community portrays negative attitudes towards ex-offenders, they feel unwanted and become stigmatized thus preferring to recidivate for convictions over new crimes (Kavish et al., 2016). Individual findings recent researches attribute the increase in the rate of recidivism to the stigmatization that most ex-convicts undergo after their release into society. Therefore, criminal labeling of an individual by the society undermines their efforts to reintegrate with the society thus leading to increased recidivism.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the emergence of Becker’s labeling theory in 1960 significantly changed the view and the world’s approach to criminology. Notably, this theory suggests that even though numerous factors lead to initial crime and deviant behavior, criminal labeling significantly determines the rate at which individuals return to committing a crime or portraying deviant behavior. Findings from several research studies confirm that labeling has negative and enduring effects on the life of felons. These negative effects include employment discrimination, limitation of voting rights, and stigmatization. While some effects may affect the subjects individually, others affect their families and the entire society. On an individual level, labeling by the community and the judicial system causes one to feel unwanted by the community and their country thus prompting them to recidivate. For instance, lack of employment affects the family’s income and the country’s economic productivity. Moreover, a lack of voting rights due to conviction undermines a society’s political powers.
References
Dansby, L. T. (2019). Employment Experiences among Workers with Felony Convictions: A Case Study (Doctoral dissertation, Capella University).
Kavish, D., Mullins, C., & Soto, D. (2016). Interactionist Labeling. Crime & Delinquency, 62(10), 1313-1336. Web.
Miller, B., & Agnich, L. (2016). Unpaid debt to society: exploring how ex-felons view restrictions on voting rights after the completion of their sentence. Contemporary Justice Review, 19(1), 69-85. Web.
O’Keefe, S. (2018). The effect of increased sentencing severity on fertility. in paa 2018 annual meeting. PAA.
Quinn-Hogan, A. N. (2021). The stain of a criminal label: post-release stigmatization and its effects on reintegration and recidivism among ex-offenders.
Vuolo, M., Lageson, S., & Uggen, C. (2017). Criminal record questions in the era of “ban the box”. Criminology & public policy, 16(1), 139-165. Web.