Examining the nexus between involvement in crime and delinquency and being processed through the criminal justice system

ABSTRACT The criminal justice system is designed to detect, apprehend, punish, and rehabilitate criminal offenders. Precisely how effective the criminal justice system is at achieving these goals is not entirely known. The current study sought to add to this gap in the knowledge base by examining the connection between self-reported crime and delinquency and the probability of being arrested, convicted, sentenced to probation, and incarcerated. To do so, male and female respondents drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) were analyzed. The results revealed that respondents who were relatively more involved in acts of nonviolent crime and delinquency, as well as violent crime and delinquency, were significantly more likely to be processed through the criminal justice than were those who were less involved in such behaviors. These findings indicate that being processed through the criminal justice system is a function of criminal involvement. We conclude by calling for additional research to determine whether the effectiveness of the criminal justice system could be improved.