The Criminogenic Essence of Dual Debt: Evidence from Minnesota

• In Event: Criminal Legal Debt and Inequality

Abstract

Child support arrears and criminal monetary sanctions are two forms of state-imposed debt that have been shown to play role in the (re)production of American stratification. Past research has documented the overlap between these debtor populations, as well as the racial disparities and compounding nature of both forms of debt (Horowitz et al. 2022). However, research has yet to examine the impact of both forms of debt on crime. In this study, we construct a unique panel dataset from court and human services administrative data in Minnesota, to examine the impact of both child support and monetary sanction debt on recidivism. Using fixed-effect panel models to control for time-constant heterogeneity between individuals, we find that while monetary sanction debt loads are unrelated to recidivism, imposition of child support arrears for those convicted significantly increases the probability of subsequent reconviction. These results suggest that certain forms of debt can be criminogenic, and analyses of recidivism should consider the often-complex web of institutional obligations that justice-impacted individuals experience.

Authors

• Ryan Paul Larson, Hamline University

• Robert Stewart, University of Maryland

• Veronica Horowitz, University at Buffalo, SUNY

• Christopher Uggen, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities