Long-Term Health and Economic Consequences Associated with Being Processed Through the Criminal Justice System for Males

Abstract

There has been a great deal of scholarship examining the outcomes associated with being processed through the criminal justice system. Much of this research has focused on legal outcomes, such as recidivism, but research has also centered on extralegal outcomes, including measures of health and economics. The current study added to this body of research by examining whether contact with the criminal justice system (i.e., arrest, conviction, and incarceration) was associated with health problems, suicidal ideation, economic disadvantage, and poverty in adulthood for males. The analyses controlled for preexisting criminogenic measures (e.g., low self-control, delinquent peers, neighborhood disadvantage) and for adolescent delinquent involvement. Data drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) were analyzed. The results revealed that all of the criminal justice system measures were statistically significant predictors of the health and economic outcomes even after accounting for preexisting criminogenic traits and delinquent behavior.