Deputy sheriffs make arrests for many reasons: to solve problems, generate statistics, rectify pe... more Deputy sheriffs make arrests for many reasons: to solve problems, generate statistics, rectify perceived moral wrongs, or enforce compliance with the law. Many studies of discretion in arrests have looked at situational and structural determinants of the decision to arrest. Citizen demeanor, race, gender, and the nature of the crime have all been examined. Turning from these approaches, this study considers the institution of policing, focusing on the relations among deputies to try and explain who makes an arrest, especially when more than one deputy is on scene. Drawing from data collected during a year and a half of ethnographic research as a deputy sheriff in a rural California county, we show that arrests are a form of symbolic capital. Arrests are given, taken, and fought for as deputies struggle to work with each other and compete for prestige and positions within the Sheriff’s Office. Exchanged, gifted, and stolen as a valuable good, an arrest has the power to solidify exist...
In Brazil, racial classification is organized around three main categories: white, pardo (ie, mul... more In Brazil, racial classification is organized around three main categories: white, pardo (ie, mulatto), and black. There is considerable slippage between these categories, leading some scholars to hypothesize that money whitens. Some have speculated that the social ...
To date, researchers have been very attentive to how the stigma of criminality informs employers'... more To date, researchers have been very attentive to how the stigma of criminality informs employers' hiring decisions, and, in the process, diminishes the employment opportunities afforded to jobseekers so stigmatized. Few researchers, however, have investigated the extent to which criminal records also shape jobseekers' search strategies in ways that either attenuate or amplify the effects of their negative credentials. We fill this gap in the literature by investigating how arrest, conviction, and incarceration affect the scope of jobseekers' search efforts as well as the specific methods they deploy. We then examine the extent to which gaps in job search success can be attributed to stigmatized jobseekers' search strategies. Analysis of the NLSY97 reveals that arrestees and former prisoners (but not ex-convicts) are disadvantaged both by the scope of their search efforts and by the specific methods they use. Arrestees are less likely than non-offenders to find work during the search process because they use fewer search methods, and because they over-invest in ineffective methods while under-investing in more effective methods. Although former prisoners are also disadvantaged by over-and under-investing, we primarily attribute their lower odds of search success to the differential impacts of their search strategies. Even when the scope and nature of their searches mirror those of non-offenders, their searches are less likely to end successfully. By bringing "search" into debates on punishment and inequality, we provide a new and complementary way to understand how a criminal record negatively affects jobseekers' chances of finding work.
Deputy sheriffs make arrests for many reasons: to solve problems, generate statistics, rectify pe... more Deputy sheriffs make arrests for many reasons: to solve problems, generate statistics, rectify perceived moral wrongs, or enforce compliance with the law. Many studies of discretion in arrests have looked at situational and structural determinants of the decision to arrest. Citizen demeanor, race, gender, and the nature of the crime have all been examined. Turning from these approaches, this study considers the institution of policing, focusing on the relations among deputies to try and explain who makes an arrest, especially when more than one deputy is on scene. Drawing from data collected during a year and a half of ethnographic research as a deputy sheriff in a rural California county, we show that arrests are a form of symbolic capital. Arrests are given, taken, and fought for as deputies struggle to work with each other and compete for prestige and positions within the Sheriff’s Office. Exchanged, gifted, and stolen as a valuable good, an arrest has the power to solidify exist...
In Brazil, racial classification is organized around three main categories: white, pardo (ie, mul... more In Brazil, racial classification is organized around three main categories: white, pardo (ie, mulatto), and black. There is considerable slippage between these categories, leading some scholars to hypothesize that money whitens. Some have speculated that the social ...
To date, researchers have been very attentive to how the stigma of criminality informs employers'... more To date, researchers have been very attentive to how the stigma of criminality informs employers' hiring decisions, and, in the process, diminishes the employment opportunities afforded to jobseekers so stigmatized. Few researchers, however, have investigated the extent to which criminal records also shape jobseekers' search strategies in ways that either attenuate or amplify the effects of their negative credentials. We fill this gap in the literature by investigating how arrest, conviction, and incarceration affect the scope of jobseekers' search efforts as well as the specific methods they deploy. We then examine the extent to which gaps in job search success can be attributed to stigmatized jobseekers' search strategies. Analysis of the NLSY97 reveals that arrestees and former prisoners (but not ex-convicts) are disadvantaged both by the scope of their search efforts and by the specific methods they use. Arrestees are less likely than non-offenders to find work during the search process because they use fewer search methods, and because they over-invest in ineffective methods while under-investing in more effective methods. Although former prisoners are also disadvantaged by over-and under-investing, we primarily attribute their lower odds of search success to the differential impacts of their search strategies. Even when the scope and nature of their searches mirror those of non-offenders, their searches are less likely to end successfully. By bringing "search" into debates on punishment and inequality, we provide a new and complementary way to understand how a criminal record negatively affects jobseekers' chances of finding work.
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Papers by Laura Mangels