An Assessment of Legal and Cultural Stigma Regarding Unskilled Workers

Legal Stigma for Marijuana Possession

“…This field experiment involving the effects of legal stigma for marijuana possession on employment opportunities has substantiated the findings of earlier studies (Schwartz and Skolnick, 1962;Palys, 1976) and suggested interesting implications for further research. In brief, the principal effect was that of criminal record on responses from potential employers: The more serious the criminal history, the fewer positive replies were received.…”

“…The variation in response to the two record conditions (although not significant) and the significant difference between the no-record and conviction with fine conditions suggest that the status of criminal took precedence over that of drug user in determining the employer's response. The importance of distinguishing between categories of crime in criminological research (Glaser, 1971) and in relation to legal stigma (Ross, 1963) were discussed earlier. The influence of the type of offense was not addressed in the present study.…”

“…The present study, investigating the effects of legal stigma associated with sanctioning for the simple possession of cannabis, represents an extension and partial replication of earlier work, in the form of a field experiment. Both Palys (1976) and Schwartz and Skolnick (1962) found that persons with any type of criminal history, even of acquittal, received fewer employment offers than those with no record at all, indicating the harmful operation of legal stigma in the posttrial period.…”

“…Intriguing questions were raised by those studies. It was suggested, for example, that job application outcome may be influenced by other factors besides record, including offender's social status and the offense (Schwartz and Skolnick, 1963;Ross, 1963) and by his cultural background (Palys, 1976).…”