Assessing the Association between Participation in Extracurricular Activities and Delinquent Behavior among Justice‐Involved Young Men

Abstract

Extracurricular activities (ECAs) have been found to promote positive youth development and protect against misconduct and minor delinquency. However, little research has examined whether ECA participation predicts delinquency among at‐risk young men or considered how delinquent behavior, in turn, impacts ECA participation. This study examined extracurricular participation over three years in a sample of 1,216 justice‐involved young men (Mage = 15.29). Approximately half of the sample participated in ECA each year. A cross‐lagged panel model was used to examine the bidirectional association between ECA participation and two types of delinquency, school misconduct and criminal offending. The results suggest that ECA participation did not consistently predict subsequent delinquency. Rather, justice‐involved young men who engaged in more delinquency were less likely to participate in ECAs.

Does Decreased Parental Support/Bonding or Increased Peer Deviance Lead to a Rise in Delinquency in Early Adolescence? Investigating the Left Side of the Age-Crime Curve

“…As previously noted, the social bonding that helps reduce offending as evidenced by the right side of the age-crime curve usually involves people and institutions other than one’s family of origin (Sampson & Laub, 1993). Research indicates that while involvement in extracurricular activities may have little impact on justice-involved middle adolescents (Simmons et al, 2021), it may have a protective effect on younger and less criminally active youth (Feldman et al, 2021). The school can also play a role in putting into effect the second major finding from this study: namely, that selecting a deviant peer group and the negative identity transformation this supposes can lead to delinquency.…”

Adolescent Contact, Lasting Impact? Lessons Learned From Two Longitudinal Studies Spanning 20 Years of Developmental Science Research With Justice-System-Involved Youths

“…In other words, a youth who reported many offenses in 2012 was less likely to join a soccer team in 2013; but a youth on the soccer team in 2012 did not self-report any fewer offenses in 2013 (see Figs. 12 and 13;Simmons et al, 2021).…”

“…Researchers using the Crossroads data attempted to learn more about extracurricular participation and the direction of the association between extracurricular activity and self-reported offending (and school misconduct; Simmons et al, 2021 ). First, the authors found that the proportion of Crossroads youths who participated in extracurricular activities was lower than similarly aged high school students in the United States (~50% vs. 70%; Feldman & Matjasko, 2005 ; Simmons et al, 2021 ). Second, higher self-reported offending in one year was related to reduced engagement in extracurricular activities in the next 12 months.…”