Arrested Friendships? Justice Involvement and Interpersonal Exclusion among Rural Youth

Objectives: We examine the impacts of adolescent arrest on friendship networks. In particular, we extend labeling theory by testing hypotheses for three potential mechanisms of interpersonal exclusion related to the stigma of arrest: rejection, withdrawal, and homophily. Method: We use longitudinal data on 48 peer networks from PROSPER, a study of rural youth followed through middle and high school. We test our hypotheses using stochastic actor–based models. Results: Our findings suggest that arrested youth are less likely to receive friendship ties from school peers and are also less likely to extend them. Moreover, these negative associations are attenuated by higher levels of risky behaviors among peers, suggesting that results are driven by exclusion from normative rather than nonnormative friendships. We find evidence of homophily on arrest but it appears to be driven by other selection mechanisms rather than a direct preference for similarity on arrest. Conclusions: Overall, our findings speak to how an arrest may foster social exclusion in rural schools, thereby limiting social capital for already disadvantaged youth.

Understanding the Empty Backpack: The Role of Timing in Disproportionate Special Education Identification

Studies related to disproportionate special education identification of students from historically marginalized groups have used increasingly complex analyses to understand the interplay of factors that cause and maintain disparities. However, information regarding the influence of students’ grade level at initial special education placement remains limited. Situated in labeling theory and life course theory, we used discrete-time survival analysis to examine temporal student- and school-level factors related to patterns of placement for minoritized students within one large urban school district. Results showed that gender, race, and socioeconomic status were all factors generally associated with special education identification, and that African American and Latinx students were more likely to be placed into special education later in their school careers. This disproportionality in delayed placement was associated with particular special education labels; for example, African American students identified post-elementary school were more likely to be labeled with emotional disturbance and specific learning disability compared to same-age White peers, and Latinx students were more likely to be labeled with specific learning disability and intellectual disability compared to same-age White peers. These results implicate inequities that emerge at the intersections of age, race, and perceptions of ability that should be considered in future studies of educational equity.

Etnisten vähemmistönuorten kokemukset virallisesta kontrollista ja leimasta

Vaikka luottamus poliisiin on Suomessa korkeaa, viime aikoina keskustelua on herättänyt etninen profilointi, poliisin voimankäyttö ja Black Lives Matter -liike. Etnisten vähemmistöjen ja poliisin suhteet näyttäytyvät usein kielteisinä ja niissä on havaittu epäluottamusta, mutta aihetta ei ole tutkittu riittävästi Suomessa. Tässä artikkelissa tutkitaan, millaisia kokemuksia etnisillä vähemmistönuorilla on kohtaamisistaan poliisien ja yksityisen turvallisuusalan toimijoiden kanssa. Artikkelissa tutkitaan myös sitä, miten nuoret ovat kokeneet tulleensa leimatuiksi näissä kohtaamisissa. Artikkeli hyödyntää kolmenkymmenen nuoren yksilö- ja ryhmähaastatteluaineistoa (N = 18), jota analysoidaan teemoittelun keinoin. Tutkimuksen osallistujat ovat syntyneet tai asuneet pitkään Suomessa. Silti he kokivat tulosten mukaan olevansa kontrollin alaisena arkielämässään. Nuoret tulkitsivat, että heidän oletettu maahanmuuttajataustansa tai etninen vähemmistötaustansa näyttäytyi poliisin, järjestyksenvalvojien ja vartijoiden näkökulmasta epäilyttävänä, potentiaalisena rikollisena tai häiriön aiheuttajana. Näitä tilanteita tuli esiin a) kontrollitoimijoiden etsiessä rikolliseksi epäiltyjä henkilöitä (leimaavat tuntomerkit), b) henkilöpapereita kysyttäessä Suomen kansalaisilta (oletettu ulkomaalaisvalvonta) ja c) yleisesti järjestyksenvalvonnassa. Tulosten mukaan epäily tuotti kielteistä kuvaa puuttumistoimista, leimaa ja toiseuden kokemusta. Leimautumista tapahtui näissä vuorovaikutustilanteissa, mutta nuoret myös vastustivat leimoja, esimerkiksi vältellessään tai kyseenalaistaessaan puuttumistoimia ja sanktioita. Artikkeli laajentaa ymmärrystä kriminologisesta leimaamisteoriasta ja kontrollin valikoivuudesta etnisten vähemmistönuorten näkökulmasta. Jatkuva epäilyn alaisena oleminen ja kontrollin kautta luotu rikollisen leima haastaa yhteiskuntaan kuulumista, identiteettiä ja luottamusta. Elsa Saarikkomäki: Experiences of official control and labelling amongst ethnic minority youths. Finland is characterised by the high levels of trust in the police. Recently though, discussions have been raised about ethnic profiling, and the use of force by the police, illustrated namely by the Black Lives Matter movement. Encounters between ethnic minorities and policing agents are often perceived as negative and lacking trust. However, these questions are not yet sufficiently studied. This article studies experiences of the police and private security officers among ethnic minority youths. Particularly, the analysis focuses on whether young people perceive the contacts as labelling and stigmatizing. The article is based on thematic analysis of 18 in-depth interviews (total 30 youths participated in individual and focus group interviews). Even if the study participants were born or lived in Finland for a long time, they experienced being common targets of policing due to their ethnic minority background or (assumed) immigrant background. These perceptions were based on situations where the policing agents looked for “suspects” (labelling attributes), or where the control agents asked for the identification card (assumed foreign control), as well as in general situations of maintaining law and order. The participants perceived these situations often as negative, labelling and they felt being treated as “others”. Yet, the participants also resisted stigma in different ways. The findings expand the criminological discussions of labelling and control biases from the viewpoints of ethnic minority youths. Furthermore, being often suspected and labelled as delinquent challenge belonging to society, identity and general trust. Keywords: ethnic profiling – criminological labeling theory – youth – police – private security sector

Labeling Theory On the Legal Expression of Police Clearance Certificate

Through state-owned equipment, the police are empowered to issue a Police Clearance Certificate (SKCK). However SKCK cannot label someone if someone is evil or not. Whereas written legal norms are characterized by legal certainty, in other words, law without certainty values will lose its meaning because it can no longer be used as a code of conduct for everyone. By reviewing references or literature related to criminal acts, prevention of crime, legal certainty and authority. SKCK is a preventive action carried out by the police institution as the State institution that has the authority over security and order. The responsibility for crime prevention is carried out by the National Police and the public by carrying out pre-emptive and preventive tasks, namely making community members obey and obey the law. Polri is responsible for approximately 20% of activities while 80% of other activities are the responsibility of the community which consists of various elements. The most important thing is that the label of criminal not criminal is the authority of the court. So that SKCK is not based on crime prevention but is based on the concept of labeling.

Juvenile Diversion and the Family: How Youth and Parents Experience Diversion Programming

Despite extensive research into juvenile justice interventions, there is a limited focus on family engagement, including parent–child experiences in these various programs. Even less research explores how families, specifically youth and parents, are affected by diversion from the traditional juvenile justice system. The current study fills this gap by drawing from in-depth interviews with 19 parents and 19 youths participating in a juvenile pretrial diversion program in Southern California. This research highlights how a diversion program can influence how families understand the justice system and law-related behaviors. The themes discussed include how diversion programs shape parent–child bonds, how parents navigate negative indictments of youth and themselves for participating in diversion, and the influence of external challenges and social forces shaping youth and parent experiences. Findings support the theoretical contributions from social bond and labeling theory. Implications and future research will also be discussed.

EPP, Labeling and Word Order in Arabic

This paper looks at EPP and word order in Arabic in light of Chomsky’s Labeling Theory, proposed in POP and POP Extensions. In the current framework, EPP—the principle that SpecTP must be filled in—is eliminated. EPP-driven movement is reduced to labeling failure: if T fails to label the structure that arises after E-merge of the subject in Spec of vP [DP vP], then filling SpecTP becomes necessary in order to ‘strengthen’ (the labelability of) T. Chomsky postulates two types of T: Strong and weak. English-type languages, which show poor agreement inflection, have a weak T, and therefore impose the Fill-SpecTP requirement. On the other hand, NSLs, Chomsky claims, have a strong T which can label the TP structure, by virtue of having rich agreement inflection. This paper shows that Chomsky’s approach to EPP makes wrong predictions. Instead, a freezing effect account which also maintains a labeling system can explain the word order facts in Arabic. Crucially, the account proposed does not make resort to Chomsky’s parameter of strength or otherwise of T.

Effects of Probation Stipulations on Perceptions of Employability Among People on Probation in Rhode Island

Roughly one-third of the people under the purview of the Rhode Island Department of Corrections are on active probation. People on probation are typically mandated to a variety of stipulations, such as meetings with their probation officer, court appointments, drug and/or mental health counseling, and crime-specific stipulations, such as anger management groups. Evidence suggesting that mandating these stipulations reduces a person’s likelihood to be rearrested is minimal. In contrast, there is a wealth of evidence suggesting that stable employment decreases recidivism. A person’s perceptions of their employability have been demonstrated as a key component to both pursuing and maintaining employment opportunities. Drawing on Labeling Theory, this study surveyed 170 persons on active probation to explore the correlation between probation stipulations and employability perceptions. Results suggest there is a negative association between stipulations and perceptions of employability. Social work practitioners working with people on probation or people who are incarcerated should work to increase their clients’ perceptions of employability.