CTE as Crime Prevention: The Link Between Career and Technical Education and Arrest for Criminal Behavior

Abstract

While prior work has explored the relationship between career-focused educational programming on deviant and criminal behavior for incarcerated and delinquent individuals, there is little empirical evidence as to how career and technical education (CTE) participation in traditional high school settings may link to later interaction with the criminal justice system as measured by arrest for criminal behavior. We examine how different CTE pathways through high school may predict later arrest for criminal behavior. Using nationally representative, longitudinal data, we found CTE participation was associated with fewer posthigh school arrests and lower likelihood of ever being arrested after high school. Notably, these relationships differed based on intensity of CTE participation. Implications highlight the unique association between CTE and criminal behavior and provide further evidence as to the wide-ranging benefits of CTE participation.