Youth Arrest as a Turning Point in Delinquency: The Role of Labeling across Time

• In Event: Police Contact, Procedural Justice, and Delinquency

Abstract

Past research on delinquency has shown that punishment and sanctions have become more punitive over time. While these punishments are meant to serve as a deterrent, research on the topic is mixed with some scholars finding that punishment functions as a deterrent in certain social milieus. Contrary to these findings, other research has found that punishment and sanctions may lead to worse outcomes. While past research has examined the effects of punishment on offending, what is still unknown is the long term affects that punishments –such as arrest—have on youth offending over time. Using the life-course perspective and labeling theory, we examine the relationship between arrest and offending, hypothesizing that arrest serves as a turning point where youth are labeled as delinquent and thus perform more delinquent behavior. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1997), we find that youth who are arrested report higher levels of delinquency than youth who are not arrested. Further, we find that arrest increases offending within youth across time even when accounting for baseline levels of delinquency. Finally, we find that arrest presents a cumulative effect on delinquency whereby each arrest is accompanied by a proportional increase in delinquency.

Authors

• Kyle Jordan Bares, Bowling Green State University

• Thomas Mowen, Bowling Green State University

• John Brent, Eastern Kentucky University