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

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.

Does Early Adolescent Arrest Alter the Developmental Course of Offending into Young Adulthood?

Adolescent involvement in risky behavior is ubiquitous and normative. Equally pervasive is the rapid decline in risky behavior during the transition to adulthood. Yet, for many, risky behavior results in arrest.

THE INTERGENERATIONAL STABILITY OF PUNISHMENT: PATERNAL INCARCERATION AND SUSPENSION OR EXPULSION IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.

Objectives: I extend the life-course theory of cumulative disadvantage to focus on continuity in punishment across generations. Specifically, I examine (1) the association between paternal incarceration and elementary school suspension or expulsion and (2) the extent to which behavior problems and weakened social bonds explain this association.

Methods: Analyses rely on logistic regression, propensity score matching, and mediation methods with data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N=3,201), a birth-cohort of children born in large United States cities between 1998 and 2000.

SCHOOL PUNISHMENT AND INTERPERSONAL EXCLUSION: REJECTION, WITHDRAWAL, AND SEPARATION FROM FRIENDS.

School suspension is a common form of punishment in the United States that is disproportionately concentrated among racial minority and disadvantaged youth. Labeling theories imply that such stigmatized sanctions may lead to interpersonal exclusion from normative others and greater involvement with antisocial peers. I test these propositions in the context of rural schools by (1) examining the association between suspension and discontinuity in same-grade friendship ties, focusing on three mechanisms implied in labeling theories: rejection, withdrawal, and physical separation; (2) testing the association between suspension and increased involvement with antisocial peers; and (3) assessing whether these associations are stronger in smaller schools.

Punishment and Inequality at an Early Age: Exclusionary Discipline in Elementary School.

We advance current knowledge of school punishment by examining (1) the prevalence of exclusionary discipline in elementary school, (2) racial disparities in exclusionary discipline in elementary school, and (3) the association between exclusionary discipline and aggressive behavior in elementary school. Using child and parent reports from the Fragile Families Study, we estimate that more than 1 in 10 children born 1998-2000 in large US cities were suspended or expelled by age nine, when most were in third grade. We also find extreme racial disparity; about 40% of non-Hispanic black boys were suspended or expelled, compared to 8% of non-Hispanic white or other-race boys.