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I believe the stories are related since all of the people involved are “labeled” as criminals in different ways. Drunk drivers are required to place a sticker on their cars asking how their driving is. Everyone in Florida is most likely aware of what that sticker pertains to and knows that the driver of that vehicle has been convicted of a drunk driving offense. Much like Ohio which makes people convicted of drunken driving offenses attach bright yellow license plates on the front and rear of their cars which signifies their drunk driving conviction. Everyone in Ohio calls them party plates.

This is similar to all the states which notify neighbors when a convicted sex offender moves into their neighborhoods. They are “labeled” from the day they move in and carry that stigma of being some type of pervert.

The Scarlet Letter is also similar in that the women in the story was made to wear a red “A” on her clothing to signify she was an adulterous and conceived a child out of wedlock. She was labeled so everyone could easily identify who the adulteress was. She had to live in shame for something that was only partly her fault and is a fairly common occurrence in today’s society.

The stories are all connected because they fall under the Labeling Theory. The labeling theory is the view of deviance according to which being labeled as a "deviant" leads a person to engage in deviant behavior. Originating in Howard Becker's work in the 1960s, labeling theory explains why people's behavior clashes with social norms (Wikipedia). Each person who carries the above listed labels has to live with their mistakes every day of their lives and will be judged, fairly or not, on their past choices. The labeling theory purports that once someone is labeled as a criminal they sometimes tend to live up to that label. They feel as though they will never get another chance to redeem themselves from their mistakes and may give up and just be the criminal they are labeled as. (If that makes any sense) Labeling criminals anchors them to the criminal justice system increasing their chances of recidivism (Lilly 149).

According to research conducted by the theorists in the Criminological Theory text book, labeling criminals does very little to decrease crime. In some small instances labeling someone may actually deter crime if that individual does not have an extensive criminal record and spent little time in the criminal justice system especially when it relates to juveniles (Lilly 153). Once juveniles are pulled into the criminal justice system they have a more difficult time staying out of trouble.

In today’s society, I believe labeling violent felony offenders is important to protect the general public. Violent felons should be more closely watched especially if they are convicted of multiple violent felonies. Labeling them as such lets everyone know they are violent and are a possible danger to everyone else, specifically with rapists and murderers. Labeling non-violent offenders and juvenile offenders does little to protect the public (unless it is a sex crime) and causes those individuals “strain” the rest of their lives. Once convicted when someone has been labeled as a criminal they are required to admit to that on a job application. This creates stress for them and their families as their job opportunities decrease with convictions of certain crimes. It also causes people to pre-judge them based on their past mistakes.