Schools and Neighborhood Crime: The Effects of Dropout Rates and Test Scores on Youth Crime

• In Event: Neighborhood Institutions and Crime

Abstract

Education is an important and well-known predictor of future economic success. Low-performing students and students who do not complete high school are associated with a host of negative outcomes, including increased delinquency and contact with the juvenile and criminal justice system. Although the national dropout rate has been declining since 2000, there are still nearly 2.2 million high school dropouts among persons aged 18 to 24. From a social disorganization perspective, it is possible that schools with high dropout rates or low test scores are contributing to neighborhood disorganization, thereby increasing crime. We use longitudinal crime and demographic data for small geographic units in cities in Orange County, CA, along with school data from the California Department of Education (CDE) and Common Core for Data (CCD) to assess how high school dropout rates and test scores impact youth crime in the surrounding area. We create spatial buffers to test these processes at an appropriate geographic unit. We also examine how these effects vary by student racial groups and the demographic characteristics of the spatial area.

Authors

• Julie Gerlinger, University of California, Irvine

• John R. Hipp, University of California, Irvine