LABELING HYPOTHESIS AND PERCEPTIONS OF SOCIAL LIABILITY FOLLOWING DELINQUENT BEHAVIOR

• NCJ Number: 16255
• Author(s): J D FOSTER
• Date Published: 1971
• Length: 97 pages
• Sale Source: UMI Dissertation Services; National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Type: Statistics
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: DISSERTATION - OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY

Annotation

EXAMINATION OF THE EFFECT THAT PUBLIC DESIGNATION AS A DEVIANT HAS ON JUVENILE'S PERCEPTION OF HIMSELF IN SOCIETY.

Abstract

A SAMPLE OF APPROXIMATELY 200 DELINQUENT BOYS WAS USED IN THIS STUDY. CASES WERE TAKEN SIMULTANEOUSLY AT BOTH THE POLICE AND JUVENILE COURT LEVEL FOR A PERIOD OF THREE MONTHS AND WERE RESTRICTED TO MALES WHO HAD COMMITTED ACTS THAT WOULD BE CONSIDERED CRIMES UNDER THE CRIMINAL CODE OF OHIO. RESULTS SUGGEST THAT THE PROBLEMS OF PERCEIVED STIGMATIZATION FROM NEGATIVE LABELING HAVE BEEN OVERESTIMATED. ONLY A VERY SMALL PROPORTION OF THE BOYS INTERVIEWED FELT THAT THEY WERE SERIOUSLY HANDICAPPED BY 'HAVING A RECORD'. INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS WERE NOT SUBSTANTIALLY ALTERED. HOWEVER, SOME SOCIAL LIABILITY WAS PERCEIVED IN RELATION TO ACHIEVING OCCUPATIONAL OBJECTIVES AS A RESULT OF POLICE AND OR COURT INTERVENTION. SOCIAL STIGMA SEEMED TO BE PERCEIVED RELATIVE TO THE DEGREE OF IMPERSONALITY OF THE RELATIONSHIP. A COPY OF THE INTERVIEW USED IN THIS STUDY APPEARS IN THE APPENDIX. A BIBLIOGRAPHY IS ALSO INCLUDED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)