Foster care beyond placement: Offending outcomes in emerging adulthood

Abstract

PurposeConceptually, foster care placement is an important risk factor for serious and violent offending. Empirically, little is known about the role of foster care placement on offending outcomes in adulthood. MethodsData from the Incarcerated Serious and Violent Young Offender Study were used to examine whether children and youth in care (CYIC; n=211) were disproportionately more likely than non-CYIC (n=153) to (a) show a pattern of chronic offending and (b) engage in more serious forms of crime, both of which were measured from ages 12–23. ResultsDynamic classification tables were used to examine patterns of persistence and desistance between adolescence and emerging adulthood. Controlling for other risk factors, a multinomial logistic regression analysis showed that CYIC status increased the odds of chronic offending between adolescence and adulthood. This finding may be gender-specific. ConclusionAlthough desistance is expected during the transition between adolescence and emerging adulthood, CYIC showed a disproportionate likelihood of chronic offending. Future research should examine whether CYIC are at a decreased likelihood of experiencing positive psychosocial outcomes in adulthood that traditionally influence desistance at this stage.