Adult Outcomes of Justice Involved Indigenous Youth

Area of Science:

• Criminology
• Sociology
• Indigenous Studies

Background:

• Juvenile arrest is a critical life-course disruption with significant socioeconomic consequences.
• Indigenous peoples face disproportionately high contact with the criminal justice system (CJS), yet their experiences are under-researched.
• Colonization has marginalized Indigenous communities, with CJS involvement further compounding these disadvantages.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of adolescent arrest on early adult socioeconomic outcomes among North American Indigenous young people.
• To apply propensity score matching to analyze the relationship between juvenile justice involvement and later-life socioeconomic status.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the Healing Pathways project, a longitudinal, community-based participatory study.
• Employed propensity score matching to control for confounding variables.
• Analyzed eight waves of adolescent data and three waves of early adulthood data.

Main Results:

• Adolescent arrest was significantly associated with reduced education and income in young adulthood.
• Individuals arrested in adolescence experienced lower rates of full-time employment.
• Criminal justice system involvement widens existing socioeconomic disparities for Indigenous youth.

Conclusions:

• Juvenile arrest has detrimental long-term socioeconomic consequences for Indigenous young people.
• Addressing these disparities requires both CJS policy reform and broader structural changes to combat inequities.
• Interventions must focus on reducing CJS contact and mitigating its socioeconomic impact on Indigenous communities.