Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-l4dxg Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-12T03:41:56.781Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Effect of Labeling Upon Youths in the Juvenile Justice System: A Review of the Evidence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2024

Anne Rankin Mahoney
Anne Rankin Mahoney*
Affiliation:
University of Denver and IJA-ABA Juvenile Justice Standards Project
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The avoidance of the stigma accompanying court appearance was one of the reasons for the development of a specialized court for children. Treatment-oriented reformers had been concerned for many years about the potentially harmful effects upon individuals of arrest, court appearance, and incarceration. As a result, they made efforts in the juvenile court to minimize stigmatization by having informal procedures, hearings closed to the public and press, and limited access to court records. More recently the avoidance of stigma has been used to rationalize the diversion of youths away from the juvenile justice system before they have any contact with it. This heightened concern about stigmatization through juvenile court exeprience flows in part from a growing interest in labeling theory among social scientists.

Type
Research Article
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 8 , Issue 4 , Summer 1974 , pp. 583 - 614
Copyright
Copyright © The Law and Society Association, 1974.

Footnotes

AUTHORS NOTE: This essay is drawn from work prepared for the Institute of Judicial Administration — American Bar Association Juvenile Justice Standards Project. The Project is supported by funds from the National Institute of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the American Bar Endowment, the Vincent Astor Foundation and the Herman Goldman Foundation. The latter, in particular, provided support for social science input into the Project.

References

AGETON, Suzanne, and Delbert S., ELLIOTT (1973) “The Effects of Legal Processing on Self-Concept,” Boulder: Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado, Unpublished paper.Google Scholar
BALCH, Robert (1972) “Negative Reactions to Delinquent Labels in a Junior High School.” Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Oregon.Google Scholar
BAUM, Martha and Stanton, WHEELER (1966) “Becoming An Inmate,” in Stanton, WHEELER (ed.) (1968) Controlling Delinquents. New York: John Wiley.Google Scholar
BAUM, Terry (1965) “Wiping Out a Criminal or Juvenile Record,” 46 California State Bar Journal 816.Google Scholar
BECKER, Howard S. (1963) Outsiders. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
BECKER, Howard S. (1973) “Labeling Theory Reconsidered,” in Paul, ROCK and McINTOSH, Mary (eds.) Deviance and Social Control. New York: Harper & Row.Google Scholar
BLACK, Donald and Albert, REISS (1970) “Police Control of Juveniles,” 5 American Sociological Review 63.Google Scholar
BOOTH, A. (1963) “The Expungement Myth,” 38 Los Angeles Bar Bulletin 63.Google Scholar
BORCHIA, David (1967) “Recent Trends: Deviant Behavior and Social Control,” 374 Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 149.Google Scholar
BRIAR, Scott and Irving, PILIAVIN (1965) “Delinquency, Situational Inducement and Commitment to Conformity,” 13 Social Problems 35.Google Scholar
BRIAR, Scott (1964) “Police Encounters with Juveniles,” 70 American Journal of Sociology 206.Google Scholar
BRYANT, Clifton D. (1973) “The Concealment of Stigma and Deviancy as a Family Function,” in Clifton D., BRYANT and J. Gibson, WELLS (eds.) Deviancy and the Family. Philadelphia: F. A. Davis Company.Google Scholar
BUIKHUISEN, Wouter and P. H., DIJKSTERHUSS (1971) “Delinquency and Stigmatization,” 11 British Journal of Criminology 185.Google Scholar
CICOUREL, Aaron (1968) The Social Organization of Juvenile Justice. New York: John Wiley.Google Scholar
COHEN, Albert K. (1965) “The Sociology of the Deviant Act: Anomie Theory and Beyond,” 30 American Sociological Review 5.Google Scholar
DAVIS, Nanette (1972) “Labeling Theory in Deviance Research: A Critique and Reconsideration,” 13 The Sociological Quarterly 447.Google Scholar
DOWNES, David and Paul, ROCK (1971) “Social Reaction to Deviance and Its Effects on Crime and Criminal Careers,” 22 British Journal of Sociology 351.Google Scholar
DRINAN, Robert F. (1969) “Aftermath of Apprehension: Family Lawyer's Response,” 3 Prospectus 31.Google Scholar
EMERSON, Robert (1969) Judging Delinquents. Chicago: Aldine Publishing Co.Google Scholar
ERIKSON, Kai T. (1962) “Notes on the Sociology of Deviance,” 9 Social Problems 307.Google Scholar
FAUST, Frederic L. (1970) Dimensions of Delinquency Tolerance: Differential Tolerance of Juvenile Delinquent Behavior by Adult Members of Different Socio-Economic Classes and Racial Groups. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, The Ohio State University.Google Scholar
FISHER, Sethard (1972) “Stigma and Deviant Careers in Schools,” 20 Social Problems 78.Google Scholar
FOSTER, Jack D., Simon, DINITZ, and Walter C., RECKLESS (1972) “Perceptions of Stigma Following Public Intervention for Delinquent Behavior,” 20 Social Problems 202.Google Scholar
FREED, Daniel (1974) Statement on H.R. 9007 and S.798 before the Subcommittee on Courts, Civil Liberties, and Administration of Justice, Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives (February 12).Google Scholar
FREIDSON, Eliot (1965) “Disability as Social Deviance,” in Marvin B., SUSSMAN (ed.) Sociology and Rehabilitation. Washington: American Sociological Association and Vocational Rehabilitation Administration.Google Scholar
GANDY, John M. (1970) “The Exercise of Discretion by the Police as a Decision-Making Process in the Disposition of Offenders,” 8 Osgoode Hall Law Journal 329.Google Scholar
GARFINKEL, Harold (1956) “Conditions of Successful Degradation Ceremonies,” 61 The American Journal of Sociology 420. Also in Earl, RUBINGTON and Martin, WEINBERG (eds.) (1973) Deviance: The Interactionist Perspective. New York: The Macmillan Co.Google Scholar
GIBBS, Jack (1966) “Conceptions of Deviant Behavior: The Old and the New,” 9 Pacific Sociological Review 9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
GOFFMAN, Erving (1963) Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity. Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
GOFFMAN, Erving (1959) The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life: Anchor.Google Scholar
GOLD, Martin and Jay R., WILLIAMS (1969) “National Study of the Aftermath of Apprehension,” 3 Prospectus 3.Google Scholar
GOLDMAN, Nathan (1963) The Differential Selection of Juvenile Offenders for Court Appearance. Washington, D.C.: National Council on Crime and Delinquency.Google Scholar
GOULD, Leroy (1969) “Who Defines Delinquency,” 16 Social Problems 325.Google Scholar
HOHENSTEIN, William F. (1969) “Factors Influencing the Police Disposition of Juvenile Offenders” in Thorsten, SELLIN and Marvin, WOLFGANG (eds.) Delinquency: Selected Studies. New York: John Wiley.Google Scholar
JENSEN, Gary F. (1972) “Delinquency and Adolescent Self-Conceptions: A Study of the Personal Relevance of Infraction,” 20 Social Problems 84.Google Scholar
John, KITSUSE (1964) “Societal Reaction to Deviant Behavior: Problems of Theory and Method,” in Howard, BECKER (ed.) The Other Side: Perspectives on Deviance. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
KLEIN, Malcolm W. (1972) “On the Front End of the Juvenile Justice System,” Appendix I in Los Angeles Regional Criminal Justice Planning Board, Juvenile System Rates: Diversion.Google Scholar
LEMERT, Edwin M. (1969) “Records in the Juvenile Court,” in Stanton, WHEELER (ed.) (1970) On record: Files and Dossiers in American Life. New York: Russell Sage.Google Scholar
LEMERT, Edwin M. (1967) “The Juvenile Court — Quest and Realities,” in President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice, Task Force Report: Juvenile Delinquency and Youth Crime. Washington: Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
LEMERT, Edwin M. (1951) Social Pathology. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
MATZA, David (1969) Becoming Deviant. Becoming Deviant: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
McEACHERN, A. W. (1968) “The Juvenile Probation System,” 11(3) American Behavioral Scientist 1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McEACHERN, A. W. and Riva, BAUZER (1967) “Factors Related to Disposition in Juvenile Police Contacts,” in Malcolm, KLEIN (ed.) (1967) Juvenile Gangs in, Context: Theory, Research and Action. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
O'NEIL, Carle F. (1969) “Working with Families of Delinquent Boys,” 16 Children 198.Google Scholar
MECHANIC, David (1962) “Some Factors in Identifying and Defining Mental Illness,” 46 Mental Hygiene 66.Google Scholar
PILLAVIN, Irving and Scott, BRIAR (1964) “Police Encounters with Juveniles,” 70 American Journal of Sociology 206.Google Scholar
RAY, Marsh (1961) “Abstinence Cycles and Heroin Addicts,” 9 Social Problems 132.Google Scholar
ROETHLISBERGER, Fritz and William, DICKSON (1939) Management and the Worker. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
ROSENTHAL, Robert and Lenore, JACOBSON (1968) Pygmalion in the Classroom: Teacher Expectation and Pupils' Intellectual Development. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SCARPITTI, Frank and Richard, STEPHENSON (1968) “A Study of Probation Effectiveness,” 59 Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology, and Police Science 361.Google Scholar
SCHEFF, Thomas (1966) Being Mentally Ill. Chicago: Aldine.Google Scholar
SCHEFF, Thomas (1964) “The Societal Reaction to Deviance: Ascriptive Elements in the Psychiatric Screening of Mental Patients in a Midwestern State,” 11 Social Problems 401.Google Scholar
SCHEFF, Thomas and E., SANDSTROM (1970) “The Stability of Deviant Behavior Over Time: A Reassessment,” 11 Journal of Health and Social Behavior 37.Google Scholar
SCHUR, Edwin M. (1973) Radical Non-intervention: Rethinking the Delinquency Problem. New York: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
SCHUR, Edwin M. (1971) Labeling Deviant Behavior: Its Sociological Implications. New York: Harper and Row.Google Scholar
SCHWARTZ, Richard D. and Jerome H., SKOLNICK (1962) “Two Studies of Legal Stigma,” 10 Social Problems 133.Google Scholar
SNYDER, Eloise (1971) “The Impact of the Juvenile Court Hearing on the Child” 17 Crime and Delinquency 180.Google Scholar
SPITZER, Steven (1971) Labeling and Deviant Behavior: A Study of Imputation and Reaction in the Definition of Self. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, Indiana University.Google Scholar
STUART, Richard B. (1969) “Aftermath of Apprehension: Social Scientists Response,” 3 Prospectus 13.Google Scholar
SYKES, Gresham and David, MATZA (1957) “Techniques of Neutralization: A Theory of Delinquency,” 22 American Sociological Review 667.Google Scholar
TANNENBAUM, F. (1938) Crime and the Community. New York: Columbia University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
TERRY, Robert M. (1967) “The Screening of Juvenile Offenders,” 58 Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology and Police Science 173.Google Scholar
THORNBERRY, Terence P. (1971) Punishment and Crime: The Effect of Legal Dispositions on Subsequent Criminal Behavior. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Pennsylvania.Google Scholar
THORSELL, Bernard A. and Lloyd W., KLEMKI (1972) “The Labeling Process: Reinforcement or Deterrent,” 6 Law & Society Review 393.Google Scholar
WARD, Richard W. (1971) “The Labeling Theory: A Critical Analysis” 9 Criminology 268.Google Scholar
WARREN, Carol and John, JOHNSON (1972) “A Critique of Labeling Theory from the Phenomenological Perspective,” in Robert A., SCOTT and Jack, DOUGLAS (eds.) Theoretical Perspectives on Deviance. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
WEINER, Norman and Charles, WILLIE (1971) “Decisions by Juvenile Officers,” 77 American Journal of Sociology 199.Google Scholar
WERTHMAN, Carl and Irving, PILIAVIN (1967) “Gang Members and The Police,” in David, BORDUA (ed.) The Police: Six Sociological Essays. New York: John Wiley.Google Scholar
WHEELER, Stanton, Leonard S., COTTRELL, and Anne, ROMASCO (1966) “Juvenile Delinquency: Its Prevention and Control,” in President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice, Task Force Report: Juvenile Delinquency and Youth Crime. Washington: Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
WILLIAMS, Jay R. and Martin, GOLD (1972) “From Delinquent Behavior to Official Delinquency,” 20 Social Problems 209.Google Scholar
WOLFGANG, Marvin E., Robert M., FIGLIO and Thorsten, SELLIN (1972) Delinquency in a Birth Cohort. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
YOUNG, Marcella (1972) Dominant Values, Referral Behaviors and Labeling by the Juvenile Court. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, Utah State University.Google Scholar