Being Labeled a Felon and Its Consequences for Recidivism: An Examination of Contingent Effects

• Other Authors: Barrick, Kelle Lyn, 1978- (authoraut)
• Format: Others
• Language: English; English
• Published: Florida State University
• Subjects: Criminology
• Online Access: http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/FSU_migr_etd-1110

Florida law allows judges to withhold adjudication of guilt for individuals who have been found guilty of a felony and are being sentenced to probation. This is accomplished if the judge chooses to sentence an individual to probation with "adjudication withheld." Such individuals lose no civil rights and may lawfully assert they have not been convicted of a felony on employment applications and elsewhere. Labeling theory would predict that the receipt of a felony label could increase the likelihood of recidivism, and that this effect may vary across individual characteristics. This research investigates this possibility by examining the reconviction experiences of the population of men and women found guilty of a violent, property, or drug felony and sentenced to probation between 2000 and 2003 in Florida (N=119,648). Logistic regression is used to assess whether applying the convicted felon label has negative consequences for reconviction within three years of sentencing. To assess the possibility that the effects of a criminal label may vary across groups of individuals, separate regression models are run for sub-samples (based on race/ethnicity, employment status, sex, criminal history, crime type) and slope difference tests are calculated to determine whether any of the differences in the impact of adjudication between groups are statistically significant. Being adjudicated was significantly associated with reconviction for all groups examined except for Hispanics and violent offenders. The findings also demonstrate that, while being labeled is a relatively consistent predictor of re-offense, individuals with certain characteristics may be more likely to suffer negative consequences than others. The effect of adjudication on recidivism was significantly larger for black females than black males (and approached significance for females and males). Additionally, labeling appears to be more detrimental for naïve than for experienced offenders and for property than for either drug or violent offenders. === A Dissertation Submitted to the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. === Fall Semester, 2007. === August 3, 2007. === Labeling, Felony Conviction, Recidivism === Includes bibliographical references. === Ted Chiricos, Professor Directing Dissertation; C. Aaron McNeece, Outside Committee Member; William D. Bales, Committee Member.