Examining the Role of Routine Activities in the Association Between Procedural Justice and Offending in a Longitudinal Sample of Previously Adjudicated Youth.

• In Event: Perceptions of Procedural Justice and System Failure, the Role of Gender, Socialization, Identity and Offending

Abstract

Previous research has identified a significant association between perceptions of injustice and offending behaviors, wherein, individuals with more negative views of various aspects of the criminal justice system are significantly more likely to offend in the future. However, the underlying theoretical mechanisms driving this association are unclear, with the limited existing research pointing to the social control and routine activities perspectives for additional clarification. Directly in line with both perspectives, greater perceptions of injustice may weaken the impact of social controls, which, in turn, may result in changes in routine activities that increase the likelihood of future offending, such as increases in unstructured activities. The present study aims to examine this potential pathway by considering the extent to which structured and unstructured socialization mediate the association between perceptions of injustice and offending. Using data from the Pathways to Desistance study, we conduct a series of indirect pathway models to examine the relationships between perceptions of injustice, structured and unstructured socialization, and self-reported offending.

Authors

• Weng-Fong Chao, University of Nebraska at Omaha

• Joseph A. Schwartz, University of Nebraska at Omaha