There has been a considerable amount of research examining the role that poverty might play in the development of crime and with being processed through the criminal justice system. Despite this research, there still remain some important gaps in the knowledge base, including whether poverty differentially moderates the effects of criminal behavior and criminogenic influences on being processed through the criminal justice system. The current study addressed this gap by examining whether poverty in adolescence moderated the influence of antisocial behavior and criminogenic influences on being arrested, convicted, and incarcerated in adulthood. Findings revealed little evidence of poverty as a moderating influence on criminal justice processing. The one exception, however, was that poverty moderated the association between antisocial behavior and incarceration such that antisocial behavior had no association on incarceration for persons living in poverty, but that it had a statistically significant and positive association with incarceration for persons not living in poverty. The results of this study are discussed in relation to the existing literature on the poverty-crime nexus.
Plain Language Summary
Poverty and Contact with
the Criminal Justice System
Introduction: There has been a lot of research examining the connection between living in poverty and engaging in criminal behaviors. The results of these studies have been mixed, pointing to the need for more research to examine this association. Aim: To examine whether poverty might exacerbate the effects of risk factors for being arrested, being convicted, and being incarcerated. Method: Statistical models were estimated by analyzing data drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health). The Add Health is a longitudinal and nationally representative sample of male and female adolescents who were in middle or high school at the beginning of the study. Nine risk factors for being processed through the criminal justice system were included in the study along with a measure of poverty and demographic measures. Statistical models were estimated separately for those living in poverty and those who were not living in poverty to estimate the likelihood of being arrested, convicted, and incarcerated. Key findings: The analyses revealed that self-reported antisocial behavior, low self-control, neuropsychological functioning, and delinquent peers were related, in some of the statistical models, to being arrested, convicted, and incarcerated. However, there was very limited evidence that poverty exacerbated the effects of any of the risk factors. Practical implications: The results of the analyses suggest that reducing risk factors—regardless of whether someone is reared in poverty—should reduce the likelihood of being arrested, convicted, and incarcerated. Intervention and prevention programs, therefore, would benefit by focusing on the most powerful predictors of being arrested, convicted, and incarcerated generated from this study (i.e., antisocial behavior, low self-control, neuropsychological functioning, and delinquent peers).
