Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Impact of Juvenile Justice Involvement on Educational Outcomes

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This project examines a long-overlooked source of educational disadvantage in inner-city communities - the increased involvement of youth in general and urban minority youth in particular in the juvenile justice system. On one hand, juvenile justice systems have long attempted to include education in its rehabilitative mission. One the other hand, criminalization of youth may make school achievement all the more difficult. The project thus investigates how arrest and detention of juveniles exert positive and negative effects on academic performance. To do so, the investigator first analyzes quantitative data on 876 poor and minority Chicago youth arrested or detained between 1992 and 1999. Second, the investigator conducts face-to-face informal interviews with a random sample of 20 youths ages 18-19 to obtain qualitative data on experiences in school before and after criminal sanctions. The results from both data sources provide unique insights into how the juvenile justice system shapes the experiences and educational outcomes of juvenile offenders.