STIGMA AND SELF-FULFILLING EXPECTATIONS OF CRIMINALITY

A convicted criminal suffers not only from public penalties but from s tigma, the reluctance of others to interact with him economically and socially. Conviction can convey useful information about the convicted , which makes stigmatization an important and legitimate function of t he criminal justice system quite apart from moral considerations. The magnitude of stigma depends on expectations and the crime rate, howeve r, which can lead to multiple, Pareto-ranked equilibria with different amounts of crime.