Age Matters: Stopping Out, Going Back, and Criminal Desistance Based on Timing of Educational Return

Abstract

Education can reduce criminal behavior through preventive influences and later desistance. However, the desistance effect may be hindered by the age at which one returns to formal education. This study explores this point by examining drop out and stop out offenders in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997. Specifically, this study creates separate subgroups of respondents who reported recommitting to educational pursuits before and after age 18. Results indicate that recommitting to education, and specific degree attainment, differ in their impact on future crime depending on when an offender reenrolls in formal education. This study expands the importance of studying the timing of social events within lives and suggests targeting policy interventions in adolescence.