Long-term effects of juvenile correctional confinement

Citation

Erickson, Gina & Schaefer, Shelly (2018). Long-term effects of juvenile correctional confinement. Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America. Denver, CO.

Abstract

Justice-involved adolescents face significant roadblocks in the transition to adulthood when they navigate this period (roughly ages 18-25) while simultaneously reentering the community after a period of confinement. This study investigates how confinement delays development of psychosocial maturity (responsibility, temperance, and perspective) and how this affects the transition to adulthood. The study uses data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) to compare psychosocial maturity for youth confined before age 18, those arrested before age 18 but not confined, and those with no criminal justice involvement in adolescence. Findings show significantly lower levels of responsibility and perspective for confined youth compared to all other youth. Subsequently, confined youth have lower levels of educational and employment attainment in young adulthood. Results suggest the need for juvenile facilities to incorporate programming that allows juveniles to build psychosocial maturity skills through activities that mirror typical adolescent responsibilities, behaviors, and tasks.

URL

https://paa.confex.com/paa/2018/webprogrampreliminary/Paper21489.html

Keyword(s)

criminal justice contact delinquency psychosocial maturity criminal justice involvement

Reference Type

Conference proceeding

Book Title

Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America

Series Title

Children and youth

Author(s)

Erickson, Gina
Schaefer, Shelly

Year Published

2018

City of Publication

Denver, CO

Reference ID

9304