Dataset Information

Arrested Friendships? Justice Involvement and Interpersonal Exclusion among Rural Youth.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

We examine the impacts of adolescent arrest on friendship networks. In particular, we extend labeling theory by testing hypotheses for three potential mechanisms of interpersonal exclusion related to the stigma of arrest: rejection, withdrawal, and homophily.

Method

We use longitudinal data on 48 peer networks from PROSPER, a study of rural youth followed through middle and high school. We test our hypotheses using stochastic actor-based models.

Results

Our findings suggest that arrested youth are less likely to receive friendship ties from school peers, and are also less likely to extend them. Moreover, these negative associations are attenuated by higher levels of risky behaviors among peers, suggesting that results are driven by exclusion from normative rather than non-normative friendships. We find evidence of homophily on arrest but it appears to be driven by other selection mechanisms rather than a direct preference for similarity on arrest.

Conclusions

Overall, our findings speak to how arrest may foster social exclusion in rural schools, thereby limiting social capital for already disadvantaged youth.

SUBMITTER: Jacobsen WC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10065590 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Arrested Friendships? Justice Involvement and Interpersonal Exclusion among Rural Youth.

Jacobsen Wade C WC Ragan Daniel T DT Yang Mei M Nadel Emily L EL Feinberg Mark E ME

The Journal of research in crime and delinquency 20211105 3

<h4>Objectives</h4>We examine the impacts of adolescent arrest on friendship networks. In particular, we extend labeling theory by testing hypotheses for three potential mechanisms of interpersonal exclusion related to the stigma of arrest: rejection, withdrawal, and homophily.<h4>Method</h4>We use longitudinal data on 48 peer networks from PROSPER, a study of rural youth followed through middle and high school. We test our hypotheses using stochastic actor-based models.<h4>Results</h4>Our findi ...[more]

PMID: 37008306

Similar Datasets

Project description:ImportanceHealth disparities between African Americans and Whites have persisted in the United States. Researchers have recently hypothesized that the relatively poor health of African Americans may be caused, in part, by African American overrepresentation in the criminal justice system.ObjectivesTo test the hypothesis that criminal justice system involvement is associated with poor health and greater health risk when controlling for unobserved family factors through a discordant sibling design.MethodsSubjects were drawn from the Carolina African American Twin Study of Aging (CAATSA). Criminal conviction records were extracted from North Carolina's Department of Public Safety. Six measures of health and one measure of health risk were analyzed. The health of convicted respondents was compared to that of unrelated non-convicted respondents matched on childhood and demographic factors ("matched sample"). Convicted respondents were also compared to non-convicted siblings ("discordant sibling sample").ResultsThe matched sample included 134 CAATSA respondents. On average, convicted CAATSA respondents, compared to matched non-convicted respondents, were in worse health. Convicted respondents had worse mean self-reported health, worse lung function, more depressive symptoms, and smoked more. The discordant sibling sample included 74 respondents. Convicted siblings and non-convicted siblings had similar self-reported health, depressive symptoms, and smoking. In general, non-convicted siblings were in worse health than non-convicted respondents from the matched sample, implying that poor health runs in families.ConclusionsThis study provided preliminary evidence that some of the association between a criminal record and poor health is confounded by family factors. Though more research is needed to support these results, the study suggests that criminal involvement may not be associated with the surfeit of health problems observed among African Americans. The criminal justice system, nonetheless, could be used to decrease the health disparity.

Dataset Information

Arrested Friendships? Justice Involvement and Interpersonal Exclusion among Rural Youth.

Objectives

Method

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Arrested Friendships? Justice Involvement and Interpersonal Exclusion among Rural Youth.

Similar Datasets

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