Chiricos's recent research examined the predictors and consequences of criminal justice punitiveness. His collaborative work has shown that economic insecurity and the extent to which people link crime with race, increase support for harsh punitive policies. This work also shows that race and ethnicity are important predictors of being labeled a felon, independent of legally relevant predictors, and that avoiding that label by having adjudication withheld after conviction, significantly reduces the likelihood of recidivism.
Chiricos was recently honored for his work on labeling theory. His paper, along with FSU criminologist Bill Bales and recent Ph.D graduates Kelle Barrick and Stephanie Bontrager was selected as the winner of the American Society of Criminology's Outstanding Paper Award. Their paper “The Labeling of Convicted Felons and Its Consequences for Recidivism,” published in Criminology (45: 547–582) showed that convicted felons in Florida who had the formal certification of guilt, “adjudication,” withheld by the sentencing judge, were significantly less likely to recidivate in a two-year follow-up period than those for whom the felony convict label was formally applied. These labeling effects were stronger for those who reached the age of 30 without a prior conviction.
Ted Chiricos
William Julius Wilson Professor of Criminology
Editor, Social Problems
850-644-7371
tchiricos@fsu.edu
Education
Ph.D. University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA; Sociology
M.A. University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA; Sociology
B.A. Merrimack College, Andover MA; Sociology
Courses Taught
- Introduction to Criminology
- Individual and Society
- Sociological Theories of Crime
- Graduate Seminar in Criminological Theory - Varying Topics
Research Interests
- Social Threat and Social Control
- Criminal Sentencing
- Labeling Effects
- Immigration
Select Publications
- Chiricos, Ted, Michael Costelloe, and Marc Gertz. Forthcoming. "Punishing Criminals in Late Modern Society: Crime Salience, Economic Insecurity and Public Opinion. Punishment and Society.
- Chiricos, Ted, Kelle Barrick, William Bales, and Stephanie Bontrager. 2007. “The Labeling of Convicted Felons and its Consequences for Recidivism” Criminology 45:547-581.
- Hogan, Michael, Ted Chiricos, and Marc Gertz. 2005. “Economic Insecurity, Blame and Punitive Attitudes.” Justice Quarterly 22:392-412.
- Bontrager, Stephanie, William Bales, and Ted Chiricos. 2005. “Race, Ethnicity, Threat, and the Labeling of Convicted Felons.” Criminology 43:589-622.
- Chiricos, Ted, Kelly Welch, and Marc Gertz. 2004. “The Racial Typification of Crime and Support for Punitive Measures.” Criminology 42:359-390.
- Escholz, Sarah, Ted Chiricos, and Marc Gertz. 2003. “Television and Fear of Crime: Program Types, Audience Traits, and the Mediating Effect of Perceived Neighborhood Racial Composition.” Social Problems 50:395-315.
- Smith, Alisa and Ted Chiricos. 2003. “Structural Antecedents of Aggravated Assault: Exploratory Assessment of Female and Male Victimization.” Violence and Victims 18:55-70.
- Kleck, Gary and Ted Chiricos. 2002. “Unemployment and Property Crime: A Target-Specific Assessment of Opportunity and Motivation as Mediating Factors.” Criminology 40:649-679.
- Chiricos, Ted and Sarah Eschholz. 2002. “The Racial and Ethnic Typification of Crime and the Criminal Typification of Race and Ethnicity in Local Television News.” Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 39:400-420.
- Costelloe, Mike, Ted Chiricos, Marc Gertz, Jiri Burianek, and Dan Maier-Katkin. 2002. “The Social Correlates of Punitiveness: Comparing an Established and an Emerging Democracy.” The Justice System Journal 23:191-220.
- Chiricos, Ted. 2004. “The Media, Moral Panic & the Politics of Crime Control.” In George F. Cole, Marc G. Gertz, and Amy Bunger (Eds.) Criminal Justice: Law & Politics (9th Edition). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth .
- Eschholz, Sarah, Brenda S. Blackwell, Marc Gertz, and Ted Chiricos. 2002. “Race and Attitudes Toward the Police: Assessing the Effects of Watching �Reality' Police Programs.” Journal of Criminal Justice 30:327-341.
- Chiricos, Ted, Ranee McEntire, and Marc Gertz. 2001. “Perceived Racial and Ethnic Composition of Neighborhood and Perceived Risk of Crime.” Social Problems 48:322-340.
- Chiricos, Ted, Kathy Padgett, and Marc Gertz. 2000. “Fear, TV News and the Reality of Crime.” Criminology 38:755-785.
This paper has been reprinted in Television: Critical Concepts in Media and Cultural Studies , Toby Miller (Ed.) New York: Routledge. 2003.
Grants
- Fear of Crime and Community Oriented Policing: A State-Wide Survey of Public Opinion. Source: U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida, $90,000, awarded by Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, 1998.
- Fear of Crime: A State-Wide Survey of Public Opinion - II, $120,000, awarded by Florida Department of Community Affairs, 1997.
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