Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2012 Early behavior problems in school, juvenile delinquency, and adult incarceration: a longitudinal examination of pathways to crime among a ten-year birth cohort in Louisiana Xian Guan Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the Social Work Commons Recommended Citation Guan, Xian, "Early behavior problems in school, juvenile delinquency, and adult incarceration: a longitudinal examination of pathways to crime among a ten-year birth cohort in Louisiana" (2012). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 3363. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/3363 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. EARLY BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS IN SCHOOL, JUVENILE DELINQUENCY, AND ADULT INCARCERATION: A LONGITUDINAL EXAMINATION OF PATHWAYS TO CRIME AMONG A TEN-YEAR BIRTH COHORT IN LOUISIANA A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The School of Social Work by Xian Guan B.E., Yancheng Institute of Technology, China, 2001 J.M., Sichuan University, China, 2006 December 2012 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It has been five years since I started this program in Social Work at LSU. During this period, I was exposed to many live projects and evaluations in school, and I became a data- driven person. Also, I am stronger and more responsible than ever before, because I became a proud mom during this period. I would like to appreciate each individual who witnessed my struggle and happiness during this journey. First, a special thank you goes to my advisor and mentor, Dr. Page. Without your support and hard work, I could not imagine that this dissertation would possibly be finished. From the first semester to this last stage, your professional guidance led me from being an outlier in social work to someone who has finally identified her own strength for a future career. Beyond being an advisor, you are an excellent model for a researcher and an educator. I would like to thank my chair, Dr. Guin. You gave me the opportunities to work on valuable data resources for this dissertation study, as well as other research and grants. Also, your care for my personal wellbeing helped me to bond as part of the OSSRD. Thank you my dear committee members, Dr. Maccio and Dr. Allen, for your effort and time to work on my dissertation and your endless support in the last five years. Your expertise helped me to fill the holes and gaps in this study. I also want to appreciate Dr. Lemieux, Dr. Mohan, and other faculty and staff members in our school. Many thanks extend to my dearest colleagues in the OSSRD, especially to two great ladies in my cohort, Judith Rhodes and Tara DeJohn. I have to say you are part of my life for too many reasons. I still remember all the precious moments with you: having tea in the seminar class, group study for the finals, and celebrations of many life events together. I also want to appreciate other colleagues that work with me in the OSSRD, Sam Robison, Johanna Thomas, i Siobhan Pietruszkiewicz, and the rest of you. I have enjoyed the experience of working with you all! My secret strength comes from my family—my beloved son, Andy; my husband, Yanjun; and my parents. Your priceless love, support, and understanding help me go through all the toughness in life. The joy of being together with you makes me a person who would never ask for more. To my extended Grenier’s family—Granny, Virginia, Charles, and Cheryl, you are so deeply rooted in my heart. Six years ago, when we moved to your family, I realized you were the special persons to me and my family forever. I cannot list all the names that I would like to appreciate with the limited space here, but I am truly thankful for all of you who have helped me, encouraged me, and share your live stories with me. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………………………………ii ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………………...vi CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………….1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………1 Scope of the Problem……………………………………………………………..3 Conceptual Frameworks: Developmental Taxonomies of Antisocial Behavior….5 The Pipeline from School to Prison………………………………………………7 Contribution of Proposed Study to Social Science Knowledge…………………..9 Research Questions………………………………………………………………10 2 LITERATURE REVIEW……………………………………………………………11 Current State of Knowledge……………………………………………………..11 Theories Applied to Understand the Causes of Youth Problems………………..12 Risk Factors for Youth Problems………………………………………………..17 Prevention and Rehabilitation Programs………………………………………...32 Policy Responses to School Problems…………………………………………...37 Implications of Literature Review……………………………………………….39 Concluding Statement…………………………………………………………....41 3 METHODOLOGY…………………………………………………………………..43 Conceptual Framework………………………………………………………….43 Data Management……………………………………………………………….44 Operationalization of Key Terms………………………………………………..49 Method and Procedures………………………………………………………….54 Issues of Validity………………………………………………………………...58 Measurement…………………………………………………………………….61 Research Design…………………………………………………………………66 Data Analyses……………………………………………………………………67 4 RESULTS……………………………………………………………………………73 Description of the Participant Characteristics…………………………………...74 Correlational Analyses…………………………………………………………..79 Multivariate Analyses…………………………………………………………...82 5 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION……………………………………………...109 The Associations among Main Variables of Interest…………………………..110 The Early Starters vs. Late Starters……………………………………………111 The Adolescent-Limiteds vs. Life Course Persisters…………………………..116 OJJ Contact as a Predictor of Adult Criminality in DOC………………………124 Criminological Risk Factors for Adult Recidivism…………………………….126 Out-of-School Expulsion……………………………………………………….128 iii Merits and Limitations…………………………………………………………131 Policy Implications and Future Research Agenda……………………………...134 REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………………137 APPENDIX: DATA RESOURCES AND VARIABLES……………………………………...152 VITA……………………………………………………………………………………………160 iv ABSTRACT This study utilizes data resources from three state-level departments in Louisiana, Department of Education (DOE), Office of Juvenile Justice (OJJ), and Department of Public Safety and Corrections (DOC), during the period 1996-2008. The sample involves 7th- 12th graders in DOE who were born between 1980 and 1989, with a sample size of N = 408,700 in total. There are two major parts in this study: (1) examining the school-level risk factors among four different offending patterns and making two comparisons among them: the early starters of crime (n = 14,346) vs. late starters (n = 17,107), and the adolescent-limiteds (n = 10,126) vs. life course persisters (n = 4,220); and (2) examining the criminological risk factors for adult criminality and adult recidivism. The second part contains two substudies, with one examining whether previous juvenile justice contact increases the likelihood of adult criminality; and another examining criminological factors in OJJ that predict future adult recidivism. Findings from the first part of this study show that all the school-level risk factors, including problem behaviors in school, school engagement variables, and school performance variables, are significantly associated with the criminal outcomes across the four different offending patterns, but they show stronger associations with the young offenders and the life course persisters than other offenders in general. Basic demographics are included in the analyses. Being male, African American, and coming from a low socioeconomic status family were identified as significant risks for involvement in criminal activities, especially among the life course persisters. Previous OJJ contact increases the likelihood of adult criminality. In particular, the frequency and severity of the original crimes, incarceration placement in OJJ, and gang membership are significant predictors of adult recidivism. v This study also included post hoc analyses on the criminal outcomes among the expelled students. The results showed the strong associations between out-of-school expulsion and each offending pattern, especially among the early starters. A cost analysis on the judicial cost per expelled student using Louisiana 2010 state budget showed the price the state paid for this high risk group. vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Introduction Juvenile delinquency and adult crime have been identified as serious social problems in virtually every society. Instead of growing to be productive citizens, juvenile delinquents and young criminals impose significant costs on society in terms of social resources, and cause non- monetary pain to their victims (Cohen, Miller, & Rossman, 1994). Previous research has identified many individual-, family-, school-, and community-level factors that potentially contribute to future involvement in both juvenile and adult justice systems. It is commonly understood that pathways to delinquency and crime are determined by multiple factors in children’s social ecologies, which are typically