Tattoos as a Stigmatizing Label Implicated in Being Processed Through the Criminal Justice System

Abstract

ABSTRACT Understanding extralegal factors that may interfere with the criminal justice system operating in a fair and impartial fashion is a key area of research. Much of this research has focused on how demographic characteristics, such as age, gender, and race, may lead to differentially being processed through the criminal justice system. The current study sought to build upon and extend this body of research by examining whether having a permanent tattoo has a biasing influence on being arrested, convicted, and incarcerated. To do so, data drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) were analyzed. The results revealed that, for males and females, having a permanent tattoo was associated with an increased risk of being arrested, convicted, and incarcerated even after controlling for the effects of self-reported crime and delinquency, levels of self-control, exposure to delinquent peers, and key demographic factors. Taken together, these results suggest that having a permanent tattoo may have a labeling effect that is used to process persons through the criminal justice system.