Citation

Hannon L, DeFina R. Crime Law Soc. Change 2012; 57(5): 475-491.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10611-012-9374-1

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Informed by recent research on the collateral consequences of the wars on crime and drugs, we hypothesize that high levels of adult incarceration are associated with high levels of juvenile delinquency. We test this hypothesis using panel data for North Carolina counties covering the years 1995 to 2009. A series of comprehensive regression models indicates a significant positive accelerating relationship between adult imprisonment and juvenile arrest rates (holding constant the prevalence of adult arrests and other factors). The results suggest that adult imprisonment rates are only linked to juvenile delinquency in the context of what has been called 'mass imprisonment' or 'hyper-incarceration.'

Keywords: Juvenile justice; Juvenile delinquency;