Early Arrests, Network Disadvantage, and Legal Cynicism Across the Life Course

• In Event: 30269 - Inequality in the Transition to Adulthood

Abstract

Prior research suggests that interactions with the police serve as a form of legal socialization, shaping attitudes toward the law and legal institutions. Personal experience of arrest may be particularly consequential when it occurs during adolescence and emerging adulthood (ages 18-24) because this time of life is characterized by cognitive plasticity, moral development, and network creation, as well as milestones such as educational attainment and labor force entry. In this paper, we examine whether people who had an early arrest – prior to the age of 25 – report heightened legal cynicism and avoidance of police, compared to those whose first arrest occurred later in adulthood. We also test whether legal cynicism and avoidance of police persist over the life course, and whether these attitudes may be a function of higher rates of recidivism or other collateral consequences of arrest such as economic and social network disadvantage. We use data from two waves of the Cornell Criminal Records Panel Study (CCRPS), which includes 1,464 individuals who experienced at least one arrest in their lifetime. About 60 percent of the sample had a first arrest before the age of 25. We find that people who were first arrested as juveniles or emerging adults have significantly higher legal cynicism and are less likely to call police in an emergency, compared to those whose first arrest occurred at age 25 or later. Those with an early first arrest also have more friends and family who have been involved with the criminal legal system, which may be a key mechanism for the persistence of negative attitudes toward the law. Further analyses will consider whether recidivism and employment disruption among those who experienced early arrests also contribute to greater legal cynicism.

Authors

• Lili Dodderidge, Cornell University

• Erin York Cornwell, Cornell University