The Symbiotic Harm of a Criminal Record

Bibliographic Data

ID21425153
AuthorsEricka B Adams (0000-0002-1675-6182, San Jose State University, corresponding author), Elsa Y Chen (0000-0003-0599-9151, Santa Clara University), Sarah Lageson (0000-0002-4108-4365, Northeastern University)
Year2026
Volume53
Issue3
Pages403-422
Publication date2026-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCriminal Justice and Behavior (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0093-8548 • E-ISSN: 1552-3594
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/00938548251379861
OpenAlexW4415372216
LanguageEN
References cited20

Having a criminal record significantly alters a person’s life chances, decreasing their opportunities for employment, housing, student loans, voting, public benefits, and more. The collateral consequences of criminal convictions, or the civil restrictions that follow criminal convictions, are well documented. However, because individuals are connected to families and communities, it is impossible to isolate the effects of punishment to only the persons holding criminal records. Instead, the effects of criminal records might be best understood as a set of symbiotic harms, marked by relational and interdependent effects. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 59 expungement-eligible persons and 69 community representatives, this paper explores the symbiotic harms of lower-level criminal records and explores the potential for automated criminal record clearance to enhance the lived experiences of record holders and their networks

Collateral · Criminal history · Criminal investigation · Criminal record · Harm · Interdependence · Punishment (psychology) · Set (abstract data type) · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Criminal Law and Evidence · Psychopathy, Forensic Psychiatry, Sexual Offending