Predictors of Police Contact Among Midwestern Homeless and Runaway Youth

Abstract

Research has substantiated that homeless and runaway youth are at high risk for offending and deviant behavior. Although gender, abuse, and deviant peers have been implicated in arrests among homeless youth, we know less about whether these precursors operate similarly for police harassment as well as for postrunaway arrest. In a study of 361 Midwestern homeless and runaway youth, several differences were noted between the predictors of arrest and police harassment. First, path-analytic techniques demonstrated that having deviant friends promoted harassment but not arrest. Second, substance use was the impetus for police harassment, whereas age at first runaway was consequential for arrest. Third, physically abused youth encountered more harassment, yet minor delinquent behavior increased the risk of arrest.

Childhood Maltreatment and the Risk for Criminal Justice Involvement and Victimization Among Homeless Individuals: A Systematic Review

“…Of the 10 studies reporting on CJI, 6 studies reported assessing CPA. A history of CPA was associated with increased risk of committing offenses in adult homeless veterans (Benda, Rodell, & Rodell, 2003); serious violent crimes in recently released homeless paroled men (Nyamathi et al, 2012); criminal behaviors of female homeless runaways and adults (Simons & Whitbeck, 1991); and delinquent behavior, arrest, and being hassled by police (Thrane et al, 2008) and arrest and ever being in jail (Yoder et al, 2014) among homeless youth. Only one study did not find any relationship between CPA and incarceration history among homeless adults (Saddichha et al, 2014).…”

“…Exposure to CM, and in particular CPA and CSA, is one of the most significant predictors of criminal justice involvement (CJI) and victimization among homeless populations (Thrane, Chen, Johnson, & Whitbeck, 2008; Yoder, Bender, Thompson, Ferguson, & Haffejee, 2014). In fact, exposure to CM is the primary reason for running away from home and early homelessness (Mar, Linden, Torchalla, Li, & Krausz, 2014) which consequently amplifies the risk of involvement with antisocial peers, substance abuse, deviant subsistence strategies, and engaging in survival behaviors (e.g., panhandling, theft, drug dealing, and prostitution; Whitbeck, Hoyt, & Yoder, 1999).…”

A cluster analysis of service utilization and incarceration among homeless youth

“…Similarly, Thrane et al (2008) noted that 55% of their sample had been arrested and 45% reported being hassled by the police. Whitbeck and Hoyt (1999) found that 42% of females and 34% of males had been arrested or spent some time in juvenile detention.…”

“…Youth in these situations may avoid shelter and other programs, because they know they would not be able to stay at the shelter while intoxicated and may be referred for treatment. As such, non-service usage youth may be more likely to spend their time on the street, which not only increases their risk for victimization (Tyler et al, 2004) but also increases their chances of associating with deviant peers, which has been found to strongly influence the likelihood of being harassed or arrested by the police (Chapple et al, 2004; Thrane et al, 2008). …”

“Accidental Intimacies”: Reconsidering Bodily Encounters Between Police and Young People Who Use Drugs

“…In Canada, youth are more often accused of committing crimes than people of other ages (Allen, 2018) and among PWUD, youth are more likely to encounter police and perceive these encounters as negative (Greer et al, 2018). Evidence from North America (Thrane et al, 2008; Ti et al, 2013) and elsewhere (Busza et al, 2013) demonstrates that using drugs, especially in public spaces, increases targeting and harassment of youth by police and confiscation of drug equipment and violence by police. It is important to recognize that such encounters take place in the context of a war on drugs and the criminalization and stigmatization of illicit drugs that is rooted in inequitable drug policies (Lloyd, 2013; UK Drug Policy Commission, 2011; United Nations High Commission for Human Rights, 2015; United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime [UNODC], 2018).…”