The Impact of the Juvenile Incarceration System and Protective Factors that Mitigate Offending

Abstract

Extant literature suggests that involvement with the juvenile incarceration system can predict negative outcomes for young people; however, there has been limited research exploring the association between involvement with the carceral system and offending behavior over time. Utilizing Disability Critical Race Theory and employing QuantCrit as a methodological strategy, the present study aims to expand the definition of adverse childhood experiences to include juvenile incarceration system involvement and to provide information on how exposure to the system manifests differently among young people with multiple marginalized identities. Considering that the school setting has been found to promote success amongst youth with incarceration histories, school engagement was investigated as a potential protective factor for youth against ongoing delinquent behavior. Using data drawn from the Pathways to Desistance Study, a series of generalized linear mixed-effects models analyzed the variables of racial/ethnic identity, gender identity, disability status, detention facility placement, and school engagement and their relationship to two types of youth-reported offending behavior (overall offending and aggressive offending) over time. The results revealed a significant effect for both offending behavior types over time. Main effects were present for gender identity and disability status for both offending types, and racial/ethnic identity was found to have a significant effect when observing aggressive offenses. Similar rates of aggressive offenses were reported by youth across system placements. Youth who endorsed higher engagement with school reported lower offense frequencies, though opportunity for ongoing school engagement was limited for participating youth.