Long-term Filtering Effects of Juvenile Punishment

• In Event: New Frontiers in the Research on the Consequences of Paternal Incarceration

Abstract

Formal processing of any given case through the American justice system involves a lengthy process and multiple decision points, each of which effectively serve as a ‘filter’ that keeps increasingly fewer cases active. The literature on punishment is predominated by the study of outcomes related to back-end system stages – particularly, incarceration. This focus fails to fully capture the effects justice system contact in two ways: by estimating incarceration effects that compound the experience of all prior stages, and omitting cases only experiencing initial stages (such as arrest). Using the NLSY97, this paper proposes to explore the impact of system involvement at multiple key decision stages for a specific population: individuals formally processed before turning 18 years old. The analysis will tease out filtering effects to highlight the unique impact of each increasingly intrusive stage. Further, the focus on an adolescent population being processed during an important developmental period will assess the degree to which differing levels of involvement carries implications into adulthood and over the life course. Findings may nuance understanding of the nature of justice system contact for youth by highlighting accumulation processes or long-term enduring effects.

Authors

• Kathleen Powell, Rutgers University

• Robert Apel, Rutgers University, Newark