Building Criminal Capital behind Bars: Peer Effects in Juvenile Corrections *
Abstract
This paper analyzes the influence that juvenile offenders serving time in the same correctional facility have on each other's subsequent criminal behavior. The analysis is based on data on over 8,000 individuals serving time in 169 juvenile correctional facilities during a two-year period in Florida. These data provide a complete record of past crimes, facility assignments, and arrests and adjudications in the year following release for each individual. To control for the nonrandom assignment to facilities, we include facility and facility-by-prior-offense fixed effects, thereby estimating peer effects using only within-facility variation over time. We find strong evidence of peer effects for burglary, petty larceny, felony and misdemeanor drug offenses, aggravated assault, and felony sex offenses. The influence of peers primarily affects individuals who already have some experience in a particular crime category. We also find evidence that the predominant types of peer effects differ in residential versus nonresidential facilities; effects in the latter are consistent with network formation among youth serving time close to home.
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Others argue that prison spells might act as a school of crime.
“Others argue that prison spells might act as a school of crime in which networks of criminals share knowledge and influence one another (Bayer et al., 2009; Stevenson, 2017).”
From Prison Rehabilitation Programs: Efficiency and Targeting (2021) · cites this paper as Bayer et al., 2009
Cites
Learning about a New Technology: Pineapple in Ghana
Conley, T. G., & Udry, C. R. (2010) · American Economic Review · doi:10.1257/aer.100.1.35 · Cited by 2,180 · see citing works
Companions in Crime: The Social Aspects of Criminal Conduct
Warr, M. (2002) · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511803956 · Cited by 1,122 · see citing works
Gangs and Delinquency in Developmental Perspective
Thornberry, T. P., Krohn, M. D., Lizotte, A. J., Smith, C. A., & Tobin, K. (2002) · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511499517 · Cited by 828 · see citing works
The Role of Juvenile Gangs in Facilitating Delinquent Behavior
THORNBERRY, T. P., KROHN, M. D., LIZOTTE, A. J., & CHARD-WIERSCHEM, D. (1993) · Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency · doi:10.1177/0022427893030001005 · Cited by 650 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Thornberry et al. (1993, 2003) provide evidence that criminal behavior increases once individuals become members of gangs, but no attempt is made to control for the non-random timing of the decision to join a gang.”
BackgroundTHE INFLUENCE OF DELINQUENT PEERS: WHAT THEY THINK OR WHAT THEY DO?*
WARR, M., & STAFFORD, M. (1991) · Criminology · doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.1991.tb01090.x · Cited by 481 · see citing works
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Learning about a New Technology: Pineapple in Ghana
Conley, T. G., & Udry, C. R. (2010) · American Economic Review · doi:10.1257/aer.100.1.35 · Cited by 2,180 · see citing works
The evolutionary basis of risky adolescent behavior: Implications for science, policy, and practice.
Ellis, B. J., Del Giudice, M., Dishion, T. J., Figueredo, A. J., Gray, P., Griskevicius, V., Hawley, P. H., Jacobs, W. J., James, J., Volk, A. A., et al. (2012) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0026220 · Cited by 745 · see citing works
Dobbie, W., Goldin, J., & Yang, C. S. (2018) · American Economic Review · doi:10.1257/aer.20161503 · Cited by 564 · see citing works
Incarceration, Recidivism, and Employment
Bhuller, M., Dahl, G. B., Løken, K. V., & Mogstad, M. (2020) · Journal of Political Economy · doi:10.1086/705330 · Cited by 335 · see citing works
DOES IMPRISONMENT ALTER THE LIFE COURSE? EVIDENCE ON CRIME AND EMPLOYMENT FROM A NATURAL EXPERIMENT
LOEFFLER, C. E. (2013) · Criminology · doi:10.1111/1745-9125.12000 · Cited by 181 · see citing works
Peer Relations and Developmental Psychopathology
Prinstein, M. J., & Giletta, M. (2016) · Developmental Psychopathology · doi:10.1002/9781119125556.devpsy112 · Cited by 150 · see citing works
Snapping Back: Food Stamp Bans and Criminal Recidivism
Tuttle, C. (2019) · American Economic Journal: Economic Policy · doi:10.1257/pol.20170490 · Cited by 85 · see citing works
Rehabilitation and social behavior: Experiments in prison
Balafoutas, L., García-Gallego, A., Georgantzis, N., Jaber-Lopez, T., & Mitrokostas, E. (2020) · Games and Economic Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.geb.2019.10.009 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Prison Rehabilitation Programs: Efficiency and Targeting
Arbour, W., Lacroix, G., & Marchand, S. (2021) · doi:10.2139/ssrn.3761992 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
- Authors
- Bayer, P., Hjalmarsson, R., & Pozen, D.
- Affiliations
- National Bureau of Economic Research (US)
- University of Maryland, College Park (US)
- Yale University (US)
- Venue
- Quarterly Journal of Economics
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2009-02
- Volume
- 124
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 105-147
- ISSN
- 0033-5533 (ISSN-L)
- 1531-4650
- OpenAlex
- W2159662613
- Cited by
- 452
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 35 · 2023: 24 · 2022: 35 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 29 · 2019: 35 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 29 · 2016: 28 · 2015: 36 · 2014: 40 · 2013: 24 · 2012: 25
- FWCI
- 63.87
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Quarterly Journal of Economics (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Crime Patterns and Interventions
- Social Sciences › Law › Criminal Justice and Penology
- Keywords
- peer effects, juvenile offenders, juvenile corrections, recidivism, criminal behavior, prisons, network formation, burglary, drug offenses, sexual offences, Florida
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