Police Contact, Neurodiversity, and Emerging Adulthood: A Life Course Perspective on Long-Term Outcomes

• In Event: Where Disability and Life Course Criminology Intersect

Abstract

Criminal justice contact during adolescence can have long-term consequences for emerging adulthood, yet little research has examined these effects among neurodiverse youth. This study employs a life course framework to investigate how adolescent police contact influences key markers of emerging adulthood—including educational attainment, employment, housing independence, and health—among individuals with autism, ADHD, and other neurodevelopmental conditions. Using longitudinal data from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study, this study applies logistic regression and survival analysis to assess whether early police contact disrupts normative life transitions and whether education and employment serve as protective factors. Additionally, the study explores disparities by race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status, assessing whether Black and Hispanic neurodiverse youth experience greater long-term disadvantages following police contact. By integrating life course criminology with health and disability studies of crime, this research broadens understanding of how legal system involvement shapes developmental pathways for neurodiverse individuals, with implications for policy reforms aimed at reducing criminalization and promoting supportive interventions.

Author

• Gabriel Alvarez, University of California, Irvine