lOMoARcPSD|22517024
-CJUS230-Journal Eval#1
Criminal Justice Research and Writing (Liberty
University)
lOMoARcPSD|22517024
READING AND EVALUATING PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL LITERATURE
Professor Presley
Liberty University
Evaluation Form
NAME: Date: Feb 2, 2018
Reference Citation in APA format
Ispa-Landa, S., & Loeffler, C. (2016). Indefinite punishment and the criminal record:
Stigma reports among expungement-seekers in Illinois. Criminology, 54(3). 387-
412. doi: 10.1111/1745-9125.12108
1.
1. OUTLINE: Use the exact
titles and subtitles used in the
article
Use alphanumeric style
I. (APA level 1)
A. (APA level 2)
1. (APA level 3)
a. (APA level 4)
(1) (APA level 5)
II. (APA level 1) and so on
I. PERMANENT STIGMA OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE
CONTACT TODAY
A. DECLINING OPPORTUNITIES FOR THOSE
WITH CRIMINAL RECORD HISTORIES
1. Increasing Visibility of the Criminal Record
B. STIGMA FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH EXTENSIVE
AND MINOR CRIMINAL HISTORIES
II. BACKGROUND ON EXPUNGEMENT AND SEALING
III. DATA AND METHODS
A. THE WALK-IN EXPUNGEMENT HELP DESK
B. SAMPLE
1. Participant Recruitment
2. Sample Characteristics
C. INTERVIEW PROTOCOL
D. DATA ANALYSIS
IV. FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS
A. ONGOING STIGMA
1. Ongoing Stigma for Participants With
Extensive Criminal Record Histories
2. Ongoing Stigma for Participants With
Minor Criminal Record Histories
B. RELEGATION TO INFORMAL, TEMPORARY, AND
PART-TIME WORK
1. Relegation to Informal, Temporary, and
Part- Time Work for Participants With Extensive
Criminal Record Histories
2. Relegation to Informal, Temporary, and Part-
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READING AND EVALUATING PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL LITERATURE
Professor Presley
Liberty University
3.
1.
4.
Time Work for Participants With Minor Criminal Record
Histories
C. LIMITED ABILITY TO USE PERSONAL
CONTACT TO OVERCOME STIGMA
1. Limited Ability to Use Personal Contact
to Overcome Stigma for Participants With
Extensive Criminal Record Histories
2. Limited Ability to Use Personal Contact to
Overcome Stigma for Participants With Minor
Criminal Record Histories
D. EMOTIONAL AND COGNITIVE RESPONSES
1. Emotional and Cognitive Responses by
Participants With Extensive Criminal Record
Histories
2. Emotional and Cognitive Responses by
Participants With Minor Criminal Record
Histories
E. SHIELDED FROM STIGMA
V. CONCLUSION
2. PURPOSE: (Cite, as
accurately as possible, the
author’s purpose for writing
the article. What was the
author trying to accomplish?
[Abstract, summary,
conclusion]
“We lack knowledge about how record-bearers seek to overcome the
negative consequences associated with a visible criminal record as they
apply for jobs, housing, and financial aid. Furthermore, although
criminal histories record all arrests—and not just those that result in
conviction—researchers have yet to compare how those with more
extensive versus minor criminal records cope with criminal record
stigma” (p. 387).
“We present interview data from a comparative study of expungement-
seekers (N = 53) who have petitioned the courts to remove their criminal
records from public view” (p. 387).
“Overall, our research goals were to achieve an empathetic and
comprehensive under- standing of research participants’ problems and
challenges, rather than to make distributional claims about the
population of individuals with criminal records (see Small [2009] for
more on sampling in qualitative research)” (p. 397).
3. KEYWORDS: (Keywords)
[Keywords after the abstract] “Interviewing, criminal records, perceptions of criminal justice,
reintegrative discipline” (p. 387).
4. LITERATURE REVIEW
(Identify the most important and
relevant studies)
[Introduction, previous
“With a criminal record history, the smear of criminal justice contact
can follow individuals throughout their lives, continually impacting
their opportunities for employment, education, and housing (Carey,
lOMoARcPSD|22517024
READING AND EVALUATING PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL LITERATURE
Professor Presley
Liberty University
A.
“Furthermore, criminal histories record all arrests, not just those that
result in convictions. Thus, the population of individuals who are
affected by visible criminal record histories ranges from those who have
merely been arrested, with no resulting conviction, to those who have
been found guilty of a misdemeanor or felony (Jacobs, 2015)” (p. 388).
“Researchers found that ex-offenders could achieve social
recognition for conventional lifestyles by displaying behaviors
consistent with conventionality, especially working at jobs that
provided stability,
financial security, social support, and interdependent social
networks (Meisenhelder, 1982)” (p. 388).
5. MOST IMPORTANT
INFORMATION: Key
transitions
Transition signals
1. Addition-also, another,
next, first, other
2. Cause and effect-because,
since, therefore, as a
result
3. Comparison-like, equally,
just as
4. Contrast-but, yet, on the
contrary, however
5. Emphasis-most, above all,
key factor, especially
6. Illustration-for example,
for instance
7. Conclusion – finally,
in sum, in conclusion
“For instance, researchers described ex-offenders who held jobs in the
skilled trades, customer service, and as small business owners (Laub and
Sampson, 2003; Shover, 1985)” (p. 389)
“First, deindustrialization has proved especially difficult for CJS-marked
individuals” (p. 389).
“In addition to declining opportunities for employment, CJS-marked
individuals today face the increasing likelihood that their criminal record
will be revealed” (p. 390).
“In sum, criminal justice records are more plentiful, accessible, and
persistent than they have been at any point in U.S. history (Bushway,
Stoll, and Weiman, 2007)” (p. 390).
“Increasingly, researchers and policy makers have been calling for legal
remedies that would relieve individuals of the burdens associated with
criminal records (Maruna, 2011)” (p. 391).
“At the time we conducted this research, in Illinois, cases involving sex
offenses with minors, driving under the influence, and reckless driving
that received judicial supervision could not be expunged. However, all
other arrests not resulting in a conviction, assuming that the applicant
has not received a conviction in any other case, were eligible for
expungement” (p. 392).
“Clearly, then, Illinois residents currently use legal remedies to avoid the
stigma associated with visible criminal records” (p. 393).
“Later, we refined and narrowed our research focus and questions to the
potential relationship between feeling that the criminal record history is
an ongoing obstacle and the severity and extent of one’s criminal record”
(p. 397).
“In sum, participants were constrained in their power to manage
information about the criminal record history” (p. 403).
lOMoARcPSD|22517024
READING AND EVALUATING PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL LITERATURE
Professor Presley
Liberty University
“After all, a criminal record history is created when a person is arrested
or fingerprinted, regardless of whether the person is convicted or
acquitted or of whether the charges are dismissed or dropped (Jacobs,
2015)” (p. 405).
“In sum, among those participants who reported ongoing stigma,
common themes were present: frustration with blocked opportunity and
poor working conditions; an inability to use personal contact to change
employers’ beliefs about the meaning and relevance of the criminal
record history; and frustration with the ongoing and punitive nature of
the criminal justice system” (p. 405).
“In sum, not all participants in our sample reported blocked opportunity
or ongoing stigma; 6 of the 53 had not yet needed to find housing or
employment since acquiring a criminal record history” (p. 406).
“Expungement-seekers with extensive criminal record histories were
ineligible for expungement; for them, full reintegration into society, with
all the opportunities and bene- fits accorded the average citizen, seems
unattainable” (p. 407).
6. METHODOLOGY(Key
methods used)
[Methods: What model is
used, what is the experimental
design, our data was from]
“We also used data recorded by the Expungement Help Desk Office and
the state of Illinois to assess participants’ conviction and arrest histories
and their eligibility for expungement and sealing. We did not want to
rely on self-reports because participants sometimes demonstrated
incomplete understandings of what was on their records and had
incorrect perceptions about their eligibility for expungement” (p. 396).
“We used a modified version of grounded theory, one that emphasizes
the utility of moving between inductive and deductive modes of analysis
(Fine, 2004)” (p. 396).
“We asked research participants open- and closed-ended questions
about why they were at the Walk-In Expungement Help Desk” (p. 396).
7. RESULTS/DISCUSSION
(Tables, data, graphical
representations, meaning)
[Results: the results show,
Table 1 shows]
“Expungement-seekers with extensive criminal record histories were
ineligible for expungement; for them, full reintegration into society, with
all the opportunities and bene- fits accorded the average citizen, seems
unattainable” (p. 407).
“For participants with both extensive and minor criminal record histories, a
stable job in the formal economy, with regular hours, a guaranteed income,
and benefits, was a desirable but elusive goal” (p. 399).
“In sum, among those participants who reported ongoing stigma,
common themes were present: frustration with blocked opportunity and
poor working conditions; an inability to use personal contact to change
employers’ beliefs about the meaning and relevance of the criminal
lOMoARcPSD|22517024
READING AND EVALUATING PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL LITERATURE
Professor Presley
Liberty University
record history; and frustration with the ongoing and punitive nature of
the criminal justice system” (p. 405).
8.
LIMITATIONS/DISCUSSION
(Limitations of the study)
[Limitations, Discussion: One
limitation of our study is,
other limitations]
“The current study was limited to expungement-seekers in Illinois” (p.
408).
“A limitation of the current study was that we had only cross-sectional
interview data” (p. 408).
“Interviews for this study were restricted to participants’ beliefs about
the criminal record and its effects on their lives, with attention given to
their motivation for seeking legal remedies” (p. 408).
9. CONCLUSION
(The main conclusion(s) of the
author(s))
[Conclusion: In
summary, Finally, In
conclusion]
“Only six (11 percent) of the sample did not report ongoing stigma; they
were seeking expungement in anticipation of future criminal record
stigma” (p. 406).
“Our primary contribution has, therefore, been to suggest that the visible
criminal record history of today has the power to damage a person,
regardless of whether he or she has experienced extensive or minor
criminal justice contact” (p. 407).
“The current study has suggested that policy makers would do well to
consider the heterogeneity of the population affected by the visible
criminal record history” (p. 408).
“Thus, publicly available criminal record histories have the potential to
offset efforts to improve the life-chances and well-being of vulnerable
individuals and groups—some of whom are no more at risk of further
criminal justice contact than members of the general population” (p.
409).
10. YOUR OPINION OF
THE PAPER
I think this was an excellent journal. The authors were well respected
and cited over two pages of references throughout the paper. They
interviewed a range of people to get a good variety for their study, and
they structured the questions to avoid bias. They discussed what their
findings can show, as well as why the findings were limited.
