The Effect of School Discipline on Offending across Time.

Despite decreases in offending and victimization in schools across the United States, many schools continue to use exclusionary discipline. Although school punishment has been tied to a variety of negative outcomes, the link between suspension and offending remains unclear. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, this study examines the extent to which school punishment contributes to within-individual increases in offending across time and/or amplifies offending between-individuals. Results of a series of cross-lagged dynamic fixed-effects panel models reveal that school suspensions contribute to within-individual increases in offending. This relationship remains even when accounting for the effect of baseline levels of offending on future offending. Further, repeated suspensions amplify offending differences between-individuals.

Exploring the School-to-Prison Pipeline: How School Suspensions Influence Incarceration During Young Adulthood.

A growing body of research has evoked the life-course perspective to understand how experiences in school relate to a wide range of longer term life outcomes. This is perhaps best typified by the notion of the school-to-prison pipeline which refers to a process by which youth who experience punitive punishment in schools are increasingly enmeshed within the criminal justice system. While this metaphor is commonly accepted, few studies have examined the extent to which exclusionary school discipline significantly alters pathways toward incarceration as youth transition into young adulthood. Applying a life-course perspective and leveraging 15 waves of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, this study examines how school suspensions influence the odds of imprisonment during young adulthood. Mixed-effects longitudinal models demonstrate that receiving a suspension serves as a key turning point toward increased odds of incarceration, even after accounting for key covariates including levels of criminal offending. However, results show that repeated suspensions do not appear to confer additional risk of incarceration. Results carry implications for the ways in which school punishment impacts youths' life-course.

Assessing the within-person impact of social/behavioral programs, increased supervision, and jail time on polysubstance use during reentry.

The process of leaving prison, known as reentry, presents a host of challenges to returning individuals. Research documents that substance use is a pressing issue and widespread among the correctional population. A variety of strategies and programs have been used to promote the desistance from substance use; notably, the use of social/behavioral programs, increased supervision, and jail time. Yet, existing research investigating the respective effects of te strategies in relation to one another is relatively underdeveloped. This issue becomes more salient when considering the extent to which supervision models can impact the outcomes and future prospects associated with reentry. Therefore, this study uses four waves of data from the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative (SVORI) to examine the impact of social/behavioral programming, increased supervision, and jail sanctions on polysubstance use during reentry. Further, we use a series of interaction terms to explore any conditioning effects between approaches on substance use across time. Results from longitudinal crossed-lagged dynamic panel models reveal that social/behavioral programs contribute to within-person decreases in polysubstance use across time while enhanced monitoring and jail-time contribute to within-person increases in polysubstance use. Interactions indicate these programs exert independent, and not interactive, effects on polysubstance use post-release.