To read this content please select one of the options below:

Getting stuck in a collective stigma: sex offense registrants, liminality liminoid experiences, and identity limbo groups

Brooke Cooley Webb (Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana, USA)
Cassandra Petersen (School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Nebraska Omaha, Omaha, Nebraska, USA)
Lisa L. Sample (School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, College of Public Affairs and Community Service University of Nebraska Omaha, Omaha, Nebraska, USA)

Journal of Criminal Psychology

ISSN: 2009-3829

Article publication date: 3 July 2024

10

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to examine the internalization of group-level identities held by people who are on the sex offense registry and how these influence emotions and the willingness to accept treatment. The types and consequences of identities and stigmas are often examined at the individual level, but most people belong to groups that hold collective identities that can be detected in phrases such as “we, us, our,” etc.

Design/methodology/approach

Longitudinal data from 2008 to 2024 was used to examine registrant’s group identities. Interviews were conducted with 115 registrants and 40 of their family members, and narrative research analysis was used to assess how participants’ levels of liminality influence why some on the registry never come to see themselves as sex criminals.

Findings

Three group-level identities were found that corresponded with varying phases of liminality. The first group had a fixed mindset, no liminality and a strong sense of self. The second group of registrants had liminoid experiences, allowing them to change the way they saw themselves over time. This group had a growth mindset that believed change was attainable. The third group exhibited fixed mindset, as they either always saw themselves as sex criminals and required no transition or came to see themselves as sex offenders post-punishment.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there are no studies that have examined group-level identities among people convicted of sex crimes or what the consequences of group identities have on behavior.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the University of Nebraska Sponsored programs for internal grant money to facilitate this study as well as the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Nebraska for the use of PhD students as members of the research team. Students were granted access to the data for their own use to create dissertations and journal articles.

Citation

Cooley Webb, B., Petersen, C. and Sample, L.L. (2024), "Getting stuck in a collective stigma: sex offense registrants, liminality liminoid experiences, and identity limbo groups", Journal of Criminal Psychology, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCP-03-2024-0017

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2024, Emerald Publishing Limited

Related articles