Suspects with tattoos more likely to be arrested, convicted: Study

People will permanent tattoos are more likely to be arrested and convicted than others, a study published in'Deviant Behavior' has revealed.

This was primarily due to persistent stigmatisation against people with tattoos, regardless of their actual innocence or guilt.

The fact that individuals with tattoos are much more frequent among prison inmates than among the general population propelled the researchers to examine whether the stigmatisation had also made inroads into our criminal justice system.

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Study author Rima Dzhansarayeva and her colleagues were interested in the whole criminal justice process – from arrest to incarceration.

The results were shocking, based on data from 20,745 adolescents and 17,700 caregivers who completed surveys at the study’s inception.

Results of the study

The findings revealed significant gender disparities in the criminal justice system. Men were more than twice as likely to experience arrest, nearly four times more likely to face conviction, and three times more likely to be sentenced to incarceration when compared to women.

Additionally, men were more inclined to have permanent tattoos and reported increased levels of delinquent behaviour.

Individuals with tattoos reported heightened delinquency rates, greater association with delinquent peers, and an increased likelihood of receiving public assistance. Notably,White participants were less likely to have tattoos in comparison to individuals of other racial backgrounds.

When analyzing individuals with tattoos separately, the disparities persisted. Men with tattoos were over 2.5 times more likely to experience arrest, 1.8 times more likely to face conviction, and twice as likely to be incarcerated compared to those men not having tattoos.

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Women with tattoos faced 1.75 times higher odds of arrest, 1.68 times higher odds of conviction, and 1.9 times higher odds of incarceration when compared to women without tattoos.

“The results revealed that, for males and females, having a permanent tattoo was associated with an increased risk of being arrested, convicted, and incarcerated even after controlling for the effects of self-reported crime and delinquency, levels of self-control, exposure to delinquent peers, and key demographic factors. Taken together, these results suggest that having a permanent tattoo may have a labeling effect that is used to process persons through the criminal justice system,” the study authors concluded.

(With inputs from agencies)