Examining the Consequences of the "Prevalent Life Events" of Arrest and Incarceration among an Urban African-American Cohort

• Published in: Justice quarterly Vol. 33; no. 6; pp. 970 - 999
• Main Authors: Doherty, Elaine Eggleston, Cwick, Jaclyn M., Green, Kerry M., Ensminger, Margaret E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Routledge 18.09.2016; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: African Americans; arrest; Correctional treatment programs; Criminal justice; Criminology; Deviant behavior; Employment; Imprisonment; incarceration; life course; Life events; Substance abuse; Urban areas; Urbanism
• ISSN: 0741-8825; 1745-9109
• DOI: 10.1080/07418825.2015.1016089

The life course perspective has traditionally examined prevalent adult life events, such as marriage and employment, and their potential to redirect offending trajectories. However, for African-Americans, the life events of arrest and incarceration are becoming equally prevalent in young adulthood. Therefore, it is critical to understand how these "standard" criminal justice practices, which are designed to deter as well as punish, affect deviance among this population. This study evaluates the long-term consequences of criminal justice intervention on substance use and offending into midlife among an African-American community cohort using propensity score matching and multivariate regression analyses. The results largely point to a criminogenic effect of criminal justice intervention on midlife deviance with a particularly strong effect of young adult arrest on rates of violent and property arrest counts into midlife. The theoretical and policy implications of the findings are discussed.