Cumulative Criminal Legal Contact and Physical Health Limitations at the End of Emerging Adulthood

• In Event: 50210 - Health Inequalities Across the Life Course

Abstract

Short Abstract: The health consequences of incarceration have been thoroughly documented. Far less is known about how other forms of criminal legal system contact shape physical health outcomes, particularly earlier in the life course. In this paper, we ask whether arrests, convictions, and incarcerations are associated with physical health limitations at age 29. We are specifically interested in whether the dosage of legal system contact, or the number of various forms of contact with the legal system, shapes the health of young adults. We use data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1997 cohort to test our hypotheses. We find that while arrest, conviction, and incarceration are all associated with a higher probability of any physical health limitations, the number of arrests a person accumulates through the period of emerging adulthood is a particularly powerful predictor of health limitations. We discuss these findings in the context of broader patterns of policing, arrest, and health inequalities.

Authors

• Laura DeMarco, North Carolina State University

• Sadé Lindsay, Cornell University