Pathways to Adult Criminal Activities Among Dual-System Youth

Background and Purpose: Foster youth who are aging out of care are at a critical crossroads in their lives as they are transitioning out of care and into adulthood simultaneously.   The transition to adulthood has been characterized as a period of freedom from social norms and obligations to allow individuals the opportunity to explore possibilities before making long-term commitments (Arnett, 2006). While this latitude facilitates the acquisition of necessary human capital for many during this period, this latitude may also heighten the risk of engagement in criminal activities for some young adults.  Former foster care youth report disproportionately high levels of incarceration following their exit from care (Courtney & Dworsky, 2006; Courtney et al., 2011; Reilly, 2003; Southerland, Casanueva, & Ringeisen, 2009; Vaughn, Shook, & McMillen, 2008). This study seeks to examine how experiences in the foster care system, specifically dual-system involvement with the juvenile justice system, may be related to education, employment, and criminal justice outcomes in young adulthood.

Methods: This study uses survey data from the Evaluation of the Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth (Midwest Study), a prospective study that sampled 732 youth from Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin as they were preparing to leave the foster care system at ages 17 or 18 and interviewed them again at ages 19, 21, and 23 or 24. We estimated negative binomial regression models to test whether legal system involvement as a juvenile is associated with adult criminal behaviors, and we used structural equation modeling to examine pathways to adult criminal behaviors from legal system involvement as a juvenile.

Results: When controlling for other variables including self-reported delinquency, self-reported criminal behaviors at age 21 and at age 23 or 24 are not associated with legal system involvement as a juvenile. The path model indicates that legal system involvement as a juvenile is associated with a higher likelihood of not having a high school diploma at age 19, and this in turn is associated with a lower likelihood of employment and increased criminal activities at age 21. The indirect effect of legal system involvement as a juvenile via educational attainment on criminal activities at age 21 is significant. Although individual pathways from legal system involvement as a juvenile to criminal activities at age 23 or 24 through educational attainment, school enrollment, and employment are not significant, the total effects are significant.

 

Conclusions and Implications: This study finds evidence that, among foster youth aging out of care, employment and educational outcomes are negatively affected by legal system involvement as a juvenile.  In turn, it appears that employment and educational outcomes are associated with engagement in criminal behaviors as an adult. This transition process is difficult for former foster youth, many of whom lack the supports of family and postsecondary education during the transition period, but it appears that if they have experienced legal system involvement as a juvenile, their ability to transition into adulthood may become more difficult and complicated by their prior involvement in two systems.