Arrested Friendships? Justice Involvement and Interpersonal Exclusion among Rural Youth

Abstract

Objectives: We examine the impacts of adolescent arrest on friendship networks. In particular, we extend labeling theory by testing hypotheses for three potential mechanisms of interpersonal exclusion related to the stigma of arrest: rejection, withdrawal, and homophily. Method: We use longitudinal data on 48 peer networks from PROSPER, a study of rural youth followed through middle and high school. We test our hypotheses using stochastic actor–based models. Results: Our findings suggest that arrested youth are less likely to receive friendship ties from school peers and are also less likely to extend them. Moreover, these negative associations are attenuated by higher levels of risky behaviors among peers, suggesting that results are driven by exclusion from normative rather than nonnormative friendships. We find evidence of homophily on arrest but it appears to be driven by other selection mechanisms rather than a direct preference for similarity on arrest. Conclusions: Overall, our findings speak to how an arrest may foster social exclusion in rural schools, thereby limiting social capital for already disadvantaged youth.

The “STICKINESS” of stigma: Guilt by association after a friend's arrest

“…Youth who were arrested also were less likely to nominate friends themselves in the next year, suggesting that police contact may be associated with greater social withdrawal and peer rejection. Although we cannot ascertain why youth drop these friends (i.e., not maintain their relationships), Jacobsen and colleagues (2021) suggested that arrest is related to weakened social ties.…”

“…Thus, youth may drop friendship ties with someone who has been recently arrested because they believe that those friendships may increase their likelihood of police contact. Prior studies have shown that youth who have been sanctioned in school or arrested are rejected by their nonsanctioned friends (for arrest: Jacobsen et al., 2021; Jacobsen & Tinney, in press; for school punishment: Jacobsen, 2020; Zhang, 1994). Jacobsen and colleagues (2021), using the same population of youth as the current study, found that youth who were arrested in the prior year were less likely to be nominated as friends by their peers in the next year.…”

“…Prior studies have shown that youth who have been sanctioned in school or arrested are rejected by their nonsanctioned friends (for arrest: Jacobsen et al., 2021; Jacobsen & Tinney, in press; for school punishment: Jacobsen, 2020; Zhang, 1994). Jacobsen and colleagues (2021), using the same population of youth as the current study, found that youth who were arrested in the prior year were less likely to be nominated as friends by their peers in the next year. Youth who were arrested also were less likely to nominate friends themselves in the next year, suggesting that police contact may be associated with greater social withdrawal and peer rejection.…”

The spillover effects of classmates’ police intrusion on adolescents’ school-based defiant behaviors: The mediating role of institutional trust.

“…However, beyond direct exposure to law enforcement, adolescents might acquire such exposure and its consequences vicariously via peers and classmates (Fine et al, 2016; Jacobsen et al, 2022). Peers take on an important role in youth’s proximal relationships as they age into adolescence, and youth often seek social support from peers during their transitions into middle and high schools (Wang et al, 2019).…”

Stigma arising from youth police contact: The protective role ofmother–youthcloseness

“…Indeed, both classical and contemporary sociological research finds that the criminal legal system is stigmatizing as it can separate an individual from others in society and instill negative characteristics to a person that harms that person's identity and status (Goffman, 1963;Link & Phelan, 2001;Schnittker & Bacak, 2013). Prior research highlights how stigma stemming from criminal legal contact operates across families (e.g., Braman, 2004), peers (e.g., Jacobsen et al, 2021), the educational system (e.g., Dallaire et al, 2010), and the labor market (e.g., Pager, 2003). Furthermore, stigma is often posited as a pathway through which police contact compromises youth wellbeing (e.g., Testa et al, 2022).…”