Russel Sage Foundation

In a new working paper supported by the Foundation, Megan Stevenson (University of California, Berkeley) investigates the extent to which peer influence in juvenile correctional facilities affects the rate at which youth offenders are reconvicted. Nationwide, between 40-45% of adults released from prison are incarcerated again within three years, with similar numbers for juveniles.

Though several previous studies have examined other societal factors that may lead to the high number of repeat offenders, there has been very little empirical research on whether the social experience of incarceration affects future criminal activity. As Stevenson states in her abstract:

Using detailed administrative data and quasi-random cohort-level variation, I find that exposure to high risk peers while in a juvenile correctional facility has a large impact on future crime. I consider three mechanisms to explain this effect: criminal skill transfer, the formation of criminal networks which persist after release, and the social contagion of crime-oriented attitudes and non-cognitive traits. I find evidence consistent with the social contagion mechanism in residential correctional facilities. Exposure to peers from unstable and/or abusive homes leads to increased aggression, impulsivity and anti-societal attitudes, as well as increased criminal activity.

Click here to read the full abstract and download the paper.