Invisible Stripes? Formerly Incarcerated Persons' Perceptions of Stigma

A social psychological approach is used to examine stigma from the perspective of formerly incarcerated persons. Three scales were constructed to assess 229 formerly incarcerated persons' perceptions of stigma toward former prisoners as a group, themselves personally, and actual rejection experiences. Results indicate that perceiving more stigma is related to having multiple parole violations, identifying more strongly with other former prisoners, growing up in a neighborhood where going to prison is more normative, having weaker social bonds to family and friends, and a person's race/ethnicity (white, non-Latino). Implications for formerly incarcerated persons and the need for additional research about stigma are discussed.