High School Experience and the Risk of Adult Incarceration*

Abstract

This study assesses the effects of high school educational experiences on the risk of incarceration for young men aged 19–36 using event history analysis and National Longitudinal Survey of Youth data. High school education serves as a defining moment in an individual's life course. Young men who enroll in secondary occupational course work significantly reduce their likelihood of incarceration both overall and net of differences in the adult labor market. High school student/teacher ratios and student composition also significantly affect an individual's risk of incarceration.

A Structural Modelling Approach to Predict Adolescent Offending Behaviour from Family, School and Community Factors

“…This finding is consistent with those reported by McCord and colleagues in the United States (2001) who stress that suspension and expulsion have social and academic effects that are clearly detrimental. They make it difficult for adolescents to keep up with academic subjects while giving them additional time without supervision, which leads to a risk situation for engaging in misbehaviours and offending (Arum and Beattie 1999).…”

“…The same pattern has been found with respect to truancy, which is consistent with the fact that characteristics associated with adolescents who regularly truant are similar to those related to adolescents who are suspended and expelled from school (McCord et al 2001). It has been suggested that one of the causes of higher levels of offending among these students is related to the greater amount of time they spend primarily on the streets and without adequate supervision (Arum and Beattie 1999).…”

Correlates and consequences of pre-incarceration gang involvement among incarcerated youthful felons

“…Like employment status, these data were obtained from the pre-sentence report. Education is an important control as academic achievement has been found to be a strong predictor of gang involvement (Thornberry, Huizinga, & Loeber, 2004), and men with limited educational backgrounds are also more likely to be imprisoned at some point in their life (Arum & Beattie, 1999). On average, the sample completed less than ten years of formal education.…”

The Impact of Schools and Education on Antisocial Behavior over the Lifecourse

“…This may lead to student frustration as well as placement into remedial classes, in which students with problem behaviors tend to be clustered (Biglan et al, 2004 ) . Much longitudinal research supports the relationship between poor academic performance and deviance at many stages of the lifecourse, including delinquency (Ayers et al, 1999 ;Williams & Van Dorn, 1999 ) , gang membership (Hill, Howell, Hawkins, & Battin-Pearson, 1999 ) , violence (Hawkins et al, 1998 ;Herrenkohl, Maguin, Hill, Hawkins, & Abbott, 2000 ;Maguin et al, 1995 ) , and incarceration (Arum & Beattie, 1999 ) .…”