Examining Immigrants' Educational Aspirations, Expectations, and Attainment and Risk for Criminal Justice Contact and Victimization

• In Event: Posters I

Abstract

Immigration has surged in recent years, and immigrants are now more likely to come from Latin American and Asia than Europe. Moreover, children in immigrant families are the fastest growing segment of the US school age population. Historically, education has been seen as an important avenue by which immigrant groups may become integrated into the American mainstream, however the assumptions of straight-line assimilation have been called in to question. Criminological research consistently finds that second-generation immigrants (the children of immigrants) face significantly more risk for offending than their first-generation (foreign-born) peers. However, the experiences of this second generation has received limited empirical and criminological attention. As a result, the adaptation processes of the second generation in the contemporary context and their implications for offending and victimization are not well understood. In the current study, we build on the existing literature by examining the educational aspirations, expectations, and attainment of Cuban, Mexican, and Filipino second generation immigrants, and risk for criminal justice contact and crime victimization in young adulthood using data from the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study.

Authors

• Marisa Baumgardner, Bowling Green State University

• Jorge Chavez, Bowling Green State University