Journal article
Reframing the debate on legal financial obligations and crime: How accruing monetary sanctions impacts recidivism
Criminology (Beverly Hills), v 62(2), pp 331-363
May 2024
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Abstract Legal financial obligations (LFOs) associated with justice system involvement are increasingly a focus for policymakers and researchers seeking to understand sources of inequality and the factors that promote successful reentry. These conversations often rely on an assumption that LFOs are associated with or may even drive higher rates of recidivism. The empirical research in this area, however, has not kept up with the growing strength of these claims. This study reports findings that may offer a new perspective and contribute to an evidence‐based debate. Multisourced administrative data on all individuals released from carceral supervision in an East Coast state (N = 21,301) over 3 years are used to examine the complex relationship between criminal justice debt and reoffending. We detail the results of survival analyses estimating the impact of these debts on various forms of recidivism. Broadly, we find that even though the relationship between case‐level LFO assessments and future offending did not reach statistical significance, the association with the cumulative effect of monetary sanctions over the life course did. Furthermore, the impact of LFO debt is greater for certain racial groups, supporting theoretical and practical inquiries into factors informing structural disadvantage. Implications for policy and future research are considered.
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Details
- Title
- Reframing the debate on legal financial obligations and crime: How accruing monetary sanctions impacts recidivism
- Creators
- Michael Ostermann - Rutgers, The State University of New JerseyNathan W. Link - Rutgers, The State University of New JerseyJordan M. Hyatt - Drexel University
- Publication Details
- Criminology (Beverly Hills), v 62(2), pp 331-363
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Criminology and Justice Studies; Center for Public Policy; Center for Science, Technology, and Society
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:001270851500001
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85198718219
- Other Identifier
- 991021894439804721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Criminology & Penology