“Good Old Boys From Good Old Families”: Rural Criminal–Legal Involvements and the Reproduction of Social Inequality

Abstract

In this paper, we draw upon 71 in‐depth interviews to explore an under‐researched aspect of the criminal–legal experience as it pertains to reproduction of inequality: interactions of symbolic resources including social and moral capital with criminal–legal trajectories in rural communities. We find that rural communities can provide significant support to residents when caught in legal transgressions, minimizing both trauma and long‐term impacts. But for those who lack resources, whether due to shorter residencies, marginalized race and/or class statuses, or stained local reputations, communities can provide a combination of low support and high visibility that amplifies negative impacts. We highlight the complexity of rural criminal‐legal system involvements and social dynamics that minimize or exacerbate their impacts. We focus on multiple aspects of the postarrest experience for those who have been in rural jails, including external judgments and internalization of stigma; visibility and surveillance that amplify negative impacts; and the roles of intersectional (dis)advantages. We illustrate the ways in which these interlocking internal and external mechanisms serve to reinforce and reproduce existing inequalities, finding that these undertheorized social processes contribute profoundly to dynamics in which communities take care of their better‐off residents while further marginalizing those who are most vulnerable.