Adolescent Police Contact and the Transition to Adulthood

• In Event: Causes and consequences of adolescent delinquency

Abstract

Early adulthood represents a heterogeneous period of the life-course during which diverging trajectories can amplify existing advantages or disadvantages. Adolescent experiences, including criminal justice system involvement, can establish the resources and vulnerabilities that youth carry into this critical transitional stage. Yet this issue remains to be explored in a contemporary context. This purpose of this study is to examine whether adolescent police contact affects the likelihood of multiple adverse early adulthood outcomes, and whether the effects of police contact vary across levels of exposure to childhood disadvantage. This research uses seven waves of data from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS), a contemporary, longitudinal birth cohort study. A series of regression techniques are used to examine these relationships. Results indicate that adolescent police contact increases the likelihood of multiple negative young adulthood outcomes, and these encounters appear consequential for young people coming of age across different contexts of disadvantage. The findings of this research are discussed in terms of their implications for understanding adolescent police contact as a mechanism of cumulative disadvantage during the transition to adulthood.

Author

• Alyssa Talaugon, Florida State University