Arrested Development: Does the Grade Level at Which Juveniles Experience Arrest Matter?

Abstract

Purpose This study examines the effect of arrest on delinquency at a salient transition during adolescence: the move from middle to high school. The effects of arrest on delinquency via deviant attitudes, attenuation of prosocial bonds, and involvement with deviant groups are examined to determine whether labeling processes and consequences vary for youth in 7th, 8th, or 9th grade. Methods Longitudinal data from a school-based survey are used to estimate the direct and indirect effects of arrest on delinquency for youth in 7th, 8th, and 9th grades. Wald tests are used to determine whether there are significant differences across cohorts. Results While arrest is associated with increased delinquency for all three grade cohorts, effects are most detrimental for 7th graders. For these youth, arrest exerts a significant, direct effect across all intermediate outcomes and accounts for increased delinquency via neutralizations, weak school commitment, delinquent peers, and negative peer commitment. Although some of these mediators explain increases in delinquency among 8th and 9th graders, effects are smaller in magnitude. In total, arrest is associated with a 132 % increase in delinquency among 7th graders, but only a 55 % increase among 9th graders. Conclusions The findings indicate that the effects of arrest become less severe as youth age and delinquency becomes "normative." It is recommended that the unintended consequences of arrest should be carefully considered-particularly for younger youth as they relate to deviant attitudes and commitment to and involvement with delinquent peers-and interventions should be coupled with efforts to improve prosocial attitudes and relations to prevent future delinquency. Although the effects of arrest wane over time, they do not disappear, and youth continue to experience consequences associated with arrest after they transition to high school.

How Arrest Impacts Delinquency Over Time Between and Within Individuals

“…Using propensity score matching, they found that youth who had police contact reported significantly higher levels of delinquency—among other outcomes—than youth without police contact, suggesting that formal contact with the criminal justice system does not serve as a deterrent and actually increases delinquency. Relatedly, Wiley (2015), also using GREAT program data, found that arrest increased delinquency for seventh, eighth, and ninth graders. Further, the author demonstrated that this effect was most pronounced among seventh graders due to its negative effects on attitudes, peer associations, academic achievement, and prosocial activities.…”

Examining Arrest and Cigarette Smoking in Emerging Adulthood

“…The effect of simply getting arrested, regardless of whether there is a subsequent conviction or sentence, may linger for 2 Tobacco Use Insights months or years adversely affecting a person's life. 10 A label could end up changing a person's life path in that she or he may incur myriad collateral consequences that limit their opportunities, particularly the inability to work in certain professions. [19][20][21] These collateral consequences can result in stress to an individual, which may increase engagement in coping behaviors (eg, smoking) to alleviate the stress.…”

“…8 A transition such as arrest could shift a person from one smoking pathway to another as it may result in an individual incurring a label of criminal, 9 regardless of whether or not they were subsequently convicted and sentenced. 10…”

Self-Reported Arrests Among Indigenous Adolescents: a Longitudinal Analysis of Community, Family, and Individual Risk Factors

“…Research examining the importance of timing of arrest on outcomes finds that the age at which youth first become involved in the juvenile justice system has differential effects on their development. For example, Wiley [92] found that arrest had more pronounced consequences on later delinquent behavior for younger (e.g., seventh grade) compared to older (e.g., eighth and ninth grade) youth. Arrest may be particularly damaging at younger ages and have more serious consequences later in life, including more chronic offending and longer criminal careers [63], dropping out of school [47], later poverty [61], substance use, and unemployment [50].…”