“I’m Not a Number, I’m a Human Being:” A Phenomenological Study of Women’s Responses to Labeling

• Author: Breanna Boppre,Shon M. Reed
• DOI: 10.1177/1557085120953488
• Published date: 01 April 2021
• Date: 01 April 2021
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/1557085120953488

Feminist Criminology

2021, Vol. 16(2) 191 –215

© The Author(s) 2020

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DOI: 10.1177/1557085120953488

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Article

“I’m Not a Number,

I’m a Human Being:” A

Phenomenological Study

of Women’s Responses

to Labeling

Breanna Boppre1 and Shon M. Reed2

Abstract

Since the 1970s, the number of women under correctional supervision has risen

drastically. With the increase in women’s system-involvement, it is important to

consider the impact that crime-focused labels may have on women’s self-perceptions

and reentry. This study applies a feminist lens to labeling theory. Through

phenomenological interviews and focus groups with 19 women under community

supervision in a Northwestern State, women’s responses were analyzed using

thematic analysis. Four major themes emerged highlighting the distinct contexts of

women’s responses to labels and the impacts of such labels on their lives. Theoretical

and policy implications are discussed.

Keywords

women’s reentry, women, women’s desistance, community corrections, institutional

corrections

Introduction

The number of women under institutional and community supervision in the United

States has increased dramatically over the past 40 years (Kaeble et al., 2016; Sawyer,

2018) at a rate 50% higher than men (U.S. Sentencing Project, 2018). The causes of the

1Wichita State University, USA

2University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA

Corresponding Author:

Breanna Boppre, School of Criminal Justice, Wichita State University, 1845 Fairmount St. Wichita, KS

67260, USA.

Email: breanna.boppre@gmail.com

953488FCXXXX10.1177/1557085120953488Feminist CriminologyBoppre and Reed

research-article2020

192 Feminist Criminology 16(2)

stark increase in women’s system-involvement are attributed to punitive sentencing

policies rather than changes in criminality (Chesney-Lind & Pasko, 2013). Specifically,

certain strict sentencing reforms during the Get Tough on Crime Movement in the

1970s to 1990s widened the net to include longer incarceration terms for more nonvio-

lent drug and property offenses, which are the types of crimes more commonly commit-

ted by women (Chesney-Lind & Pasko, 2013; Harmon & Boppre, 2018).

Given the massive increase in the number of women under correctional supervi-

sion, it is important to examine the collateral consequences associated with their sys-

tem-involvement (Clear & Frost, 2013). Formal assignment of the “felon” or “criminal”

label carries distinct stigmatization as well as structural barriers to reintegration (e.g.,

employment, housing, and public assistance restrictions; Middlemass, 2017). Labeling

theorists aim to understand how such labels impact system-involved persons after their

initial contact with the legal system (e.g., Becker, 1963; Lemert, 1967).

The effects of labeling and stigma have largely been studied from a generalized or

gender-neutral lens. The majority of research to-date has not considered labeling

within a gendered context. Further, very few studies examined the manner in which

crime-focused labels may affect women specifically (for exceptions, see Gunn et al.,

2018; Sharpe, 2015). Understanding the impacts of labeling on women provides a

unique and important contribution to identity and desistance literature.

The current study seeks to fill this gap in the literature by examining how women

perceive and react to crime-focused labels. Using a qualitative phenomenological

approach, 19 women on community supervision were interviewed and asked questions

about whether they have experienced labeling, their feelings and reactions to such

labels, how gendered/intersectional identities affect labeling, and contributions to

recidivism. Their responses were analyzed thematically to develop four major themes.

Focusing on system-involved women allows for a deeper understanding of labeling

through a feminist lens.

Labeling Theory and Stigma

In the 1960s, labeling theory gained popularity, but the foundation of this perspective

can be traced back to the early 1900s (Tannenbaum, 1938). The foundation of labeling

perspectives is built upon symbolic interactionism (Blumer, 1969), which posits that

social meaning is generated through the repeat use of social actions, objects, and lan-

guage. Therefore, the definition of “deviant” behavior is socially constructed through a

process of repeat interactions (Triplett & Upton, 2015). Within this process, meaning is

given to labels by society as well as individuals themselves, through the repeat applica-

tion and internalization of such labels (Matza, 1969; Schur, 1973).

Individuals may react to crime-focused labels in various ways—through accep-

tance, rejection, or defiance (Becker, 1963; Sherman, 1993). Such effects can be coun-

tered if shaming is reintegrative (Braithwaite, 1989) or if the punishment is perceived

as justified (Sherman, 1993). Generally, labeling theorists predict that the labels

applied through formal social control contribute to increased law-breaking behavior

(Becker, 1963; Kavish et., 2014; Lemert, 1967; Tannenbaum, 1938). Such research