Derailed: The Effects of Adolescent Violence Exposure on College Enrollment

• In Event: 1560 - At the Intersection of Education and the Criminal Justice System

Abstract

The effect of violence exposure on students’ chances of attending college is a serious concern for researchers and policymakers. Obstacles to investigating this problem include methodological difficulty assessing causal effects and substantive distinctions between the effects of isolated and repeated exposures. Using AddHealth data, I construct multilevel propensity score models with cross-lagged predictors, with wave 1 covariates predicting the effect of wave 2 exposure on wave 3 college attendance. I hypothesize: 1. Violence exposure negatively affects college attendance chances overall; 2. Isolated exposure decreases college attendance chances for those with no history of violence exposure; and 3. Repeat exposure will not affect college attendance chances among those who report previous violence exposure. Results offer qualified support for all three hypotheses.

Author

• Daniel M. Kimmel, Yeshiva University