Dealing with Debt: Stress and Coping Experiences of Criminal Justice Financial Obligations

Background and Purpose:

The imposition of fines, fees, and other forms of monetary penalties has become a ubiquitous feature of criminal sentencing for all levels of offenses. This complex, growing system of Criminal Justice Financial Obligations (CJFOs) has grievous consequences for criminal defendants, the majority of whom are indigent. An emerging body of literature has made it clear that the use of monetary sanctions is rapidly increasing and that debtors often have difficulty paying them. However, researchers are only just beginning to scratch the surface of debtors’ experiences and the ways in which they deal with CJFOs. This paper addresses this gap by exploring debtors’ affective responses to criminal justice debt and experiences of debt-related stress. Further, we consider debtors’ coping strategies for managing their CJFOs.

Methods:

In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with fifty-seven individuals (ages 19 to 62) who had each received monetary sanction(s) as a result of a criminal conviction. The majority of interviewees were men (76.5%) and/or people of color (76.5% Black/African American; 19.6% Hispanic/Latinx). The researchers partnered with a reentry service provider for recruitment. Interviews elicited the social and economic processes related to individuals’ payment or non-payment of CJFOs and the impact of CJFOs on various aspects of their lives. Interviews were transcribed and coded thematically using Atlas.ti qualitative software, following an inductive analytic approach and guided by grounded theory principles.

Findings:

Analysis of interview data demonstrated that CJFOs were often a source of significant stress. Participants expressed a range of generally negative affective responses, including anger, hostility, frustration, shame, despair, and fear. These feeling states connected to one or all of the following perceptions of CJFOs: they have caused harm, they threaten to cause harm, or they are unfair and exploitative. Participants with more neutral responses reported circumstances mitigating the threat or harm of CJFOs to themselves (e.g., availability of social support, comfortable income level).

Practical coping strategies were organized into a matrix in which they were defined as (1) compliant or defiant and (2) active or passive. Active defiance, for instance, includes intentional system avoidance strategies (shielding income), while active compliance includes proactive efforts to pay legal debts. Affective coping behaviors related to practical strategies and reflected orientations either toward solution-focused or emotion-focused coping.

Conclusions and Implications:

As CJFOs have become an increasingly pervasive form of punishment, ever-greater numbers of socio-economically vulnerable people are saddled with legal debt. These obligations can erect obstacles and stymie efforts of justice-involved individuals to move forward with their lives. It is thus essential that the social work profession critically examine the experiences of people with criminal justice debt. These findings highlight the major emotional and practical burdens CJFOs impose, as well as implications for compliance with sanctions. Practitioners working with this population are well suited to advocate for debtors and facilitate system interactions that promote adaptive coping strategies.