Does Police Contact in Adolescence Impact Subsequent Offending?

• In Event: Social relationships and crime: From social institutions to intimate partners

Abstract

The effectiveness of formal sanctions in deterring crime remains inconclusive, with deterrence and labeling theories offering opposing perspectives. This study investigates whether police contact during early adolescence influences self-reported delinquency in late adolescence. Using data from the Malmö Individual and Neighbourhood Development Study (MINDS), we conducted a longitudinal analysis with propensity score matching to estimate the average treatment effect of being caught by the police for a crime at age 16 on self-reported crime at age 18. The sample included adolescents who had been caught by the police and a matched control group of individuals who had not. Covariates used in the matching process included a large number of criminological factors related to crime and/or police contact. The outcomes examined included total delinquency, theft, violence, and vandalism. The analyses showed no effect of being caught by the police during adolescence on future self-reported delinquency, suggesting that police contact in adolescence does not influence future offending as measured through self-reported crime.

Authors

• Zoran Vasiljevic, Department of Criminology, Malmö University

• Marie Torstensson Levander, Malmö University