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The Relationship Between Social Support and Criminality, Illustrated by the Foster Care to

Prison Pipeline

Trinity Hutt

May 5th, 2023

Word Count: 1873

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Abstract

This literature review will focus on the relationship between social support and criminality

within black populations in the United States. Which is illustrated by the foster care-to-prison

pipeline. Developmental research included will give insight into the importance of handling

developing minds with care. As well as the harmful effects of early separation from existing

social support and caregivers. This research proposes causation for foster children’s particular

risk for entering the Criminal Justice System and for the disproportionate presence of African

Americans within the prison system. Understanding social support as a buffering effect for

criminality within these populations is key to providing adequate systems of support to end this

intergenerational cycle.

Introduction

Stories of survival against all odds are classics in literature and media everywhere, everyone

loves an underdog story. But what precedes coming out of stressful situations, living from them,

learning from them, and continuing to grow from them? This literature review discusses the

particular vulnerability that foster children have for entering the criminal justice system. Through

evidence such as the issue of placement instability and prevalence of adverse life outcomes

within black populations of the US. This literature review mainly touches on criminological

theories that relate to social support contributing to well-being. However it is an overall

operation on conflict theory, in which people with less power are victimized by the power

structures not created by them. This research is of high importance because understanding this
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relationship between social support and criminality will give way for interventions to reduce

crime rates and the prison population.

Developmental Framework

Scholars are investigating and establishing a firm relationship between the environments an

individual is raised in and the outcomes that individual experiences. This developmental

framework touches on Social Learning Theory, which proposes that people have different social

environments in which their identity is pivotal. These environments, family, peers, community,

and culture in a broader sense, contribute to children’s ability to learn feelings of security.

(Development Services Group, Inc. 2015.) Naturally, this social identity needs to be cultivated

throughout one’s life, and development will continue throughout the lifespan. However, during

childhood, the brain is uniquely moldable and elastic. According to Browne and Harper,

Children learn rapidly, constantly taking in their environments. In this study, social connections

are also highlighted as a driving force for development. It is described in this research as having

healthy, sustained relationships with people, institutions, the community, and a force greater than

oneself. This research shows the necessity of quality public school systems, family systems,

systematic support, and community belonging. Stressful events or instability can have negative

impacts on development. (Browne and Harper. 2014.) A qualitative study trying to understand

the characteristics associated with resilience amongst individual African Americans. Which is

the ability to come back from stressful events. Within this study, 738 were surveyed, 472 (64%)

fit the criteria for trauma exposed, and a total of 351 participated in the diagnostic interviews.

After these interviews, they divided the sample into Resilient, Currently Ill, or Recovered. The

researchers then used multinomial logistic regression to examine which psychosocial variables

were associated with resilience or recovery. This revealed that the use of social support was
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associated with both resilience and recovery at a nearly significant level. Religious service

attendance may also represent an important source of social support in this population. Which is

in practice, relying on others for emotional and concrete support in times of need. (Alim. 2018)

The results of this study displayed that participants that were exposed to trauma but had a firm

grasp on their values and positive role models were much less likely to face multiple adverse

challenges. For example substance abuse, violence, and dropout rates.

Where Do “Unfortunate” Children Go?

Theoretically, foster care is a solution to this issue. By removing the child from their home, and

placing them into a state-monitored one which has been approved as suitable, until further

proceedings. Removal of the children is warranted when they find evidence of maltreatment and

conduct a thorough review of the home. The substantiated child maltreatment or abuse endured

can be emotional, physical, sexual, and most prominent, neglect. (Child Welfare Information

Gate. 2020). Neglect is an inability or unwillingness to provide the children with their basic

needs. However the system has been criticized for haphazardly removing children from their

homes, and their history of prejudice. Presently, black children make up 28.4% of the foster care

system, including this they are also the most likely to be investigated for child maltreatment

without finding evidence of maltreatment. As illustrated by this graph, across the board minority

families are divided and investigated more than white families. (Yi and Wildeman. 2018.)

Although risk factors such as poverty influence maltreatment, cultural bias throughout CPS

decision points and the lack of support services available in impoverished neighborhoods further

perpetuate racial inequities. This indicates that “African American families, in particular, are not

offered the same amount of support services when they are brought to the attention of the child

welfare system” (Knott, Giwa. 2012. pg 9.)

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Graphs of children within foster care by race/ethnicity and relative to white children. (Knott and Giwa. 2012)
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Placement Instability

Social support and fostering a positive social identity naturally would be difficult for children in

foster care. Having to restart, and develop new relationships with different caregivers can be

extremely challenging. As explained in this study, “Foster care placement is associated with an

elevated risk of substance use and housing instability, lower levels of education and employment,

greater likelihood of teen pregnancy and parenthood, and poorer mental health, to name just a

few outcomes.” (Yi and Wildeman 2018.) Rubin et al set out to disentangle the effect of a child’s

baseline problems at entry into foster care, they found that after accounting for baseline

attributes, stability remained an important predictor of well-being for children in foster care for

longer durations. Of their data, 52% of the children achieved early stability, 19% achieved later

stability, and 28% remained unstable. Furthermore, they found that 40% of states are failing to

limit the average number of placements to below 2-3. (Rubin et al. 2007)

Social Support’s Opposite; Where Do “Bad” Adults Go?

The United States has the single largest prison system in the world, a population that has

quintupled since the ’70s. The functionality of this within our society is to extract dangerous

individuals from society and punish them for criminal acts. However, this fundamentally

removes prisoners from their existing social support, similar to the foster care system. Yet it

places them into a hostile environment, barely sufficient for human needs, and an extremely

strained social environment. The presence of African Americans within the prison system is

overwhelming. Almost 40.4% of these young adults have been arrested for something more

serious than a traffic violation. (Yi and Christopher 2018). As explained in Alexander et. al,

imprisonment does not reduce the likelihood to stay out of prison. The highly accredited author
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also displays the difficulties faced by individuals after they have left the prison system. Once an

individual is labeled a felon, “employment discrimination, housing discrimination, denial of the

right to vote, denial of educational opportunity, denial of food stamps and other public benefits,

and exclusion from jury service - are suddenly legal.” (Alexander. 2020.) Along with this comes

the social scrutiny which can affect self-efficacy and identity within a larger community, as

discussed by labeling theory. Both the social and systematic label of criminal holds an

indisputable power.

Involvement in the foster care system is correlated to involvement with the criminal justice

system. A uniquely longitudinal study out of Wisconsin analyzes the prevalence of previous

foster children within the prison system. The data shows that nearly 10 percent of 15-16

year-olds within the foster care system were incarcerated in state prison between age 18 and age

21. 32 percent and 10 percent with respect to incarceration in either state prison or county jail

had been in child welfare systems. Either foster care or any Out of Home Placement (OHP).

Additionally, this study noted that “rates of incarceration for CPS-involved adolescents are

particularly high for men and black individuals.” (Berger et al. 2018)

Strengths and Limitations Within the Literature

The specific variables for building resiliency are highly debated, and difficult to research due to

the ambiguous nature of psychosocial factors and individual experiences. Therefore it is hard to

determine a measurable relationship between social support and criminality. There is also a lack

of national data linking CPS involvement with incarceration, but it shows an especially strong

connection amongst black populations. In addition to this, the association between positive social
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support and lack of criminality is displayed, which gives way for the inverse to be true. A lack of

positive social support contributes to criminality.

Conclusion and Implications

There is no exact formula for the conditions necessary to prevent criminality while protecting

autonomy, and probably never will be. However, systematic home removal, and the outcomes

associated with them, are grim, and seen in both systems. Suggesting a foster care-to-prison

pipeline due to the systematic extraction from existing, informal, and social support systems. It is

pivotal that the effects of positive social support is further researched to establish this correlation.

As it could be utilized in lowering crime rates and limiting racial injustices. Implementing

interventions that focus on maintaining and supporting existing social networks and offering

services to help create healthy social networks should be prioritized. Grassroots mobilization and

community cohesion programs could be possible. This research is most effective and critical for

implementation with foster youth due to their unique disposition.

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References

Alexander, M., & West, C. (2020). The new Jim Crow: Mass incarceration in the age of

colorblindness. New Press.

Alim, Tanya N. et al. 2008. “Trauma, Resilience, and Recovery in a High-Risk

African-American Population.” American Journal of Psychiatry 165(12):1566–75.

Berger, Lawrence M., Maria Cancian, Laura Cuesta, and Jennifer L. Noyes. 2016. “Families at

the Intersection of the Criminal Justice and Child Protective Services Systems.” The

ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 665(1):171–94.

Browne and Harper. 2014. “Advancing Healthy Adolescent Development and Well-Being.” Pp.

1–45 in Youth Thrive. Washington, DC: Center for the Study of Social Policy.

Child Welfare Information Gateway. 2020. “Protective factors approaches in child welfare”

Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for

Children and Families, Children's Bureau.

Development Services Group, Inc. 2015. “Protective Factors for Delinquency.” Literature

review. Washington, D.C.: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Knott, Theresa, and Sulaimon Giwa. 2012. “African American Disproportionality within CPS

and Disparate Access to Support Services: Review and Critical Analysis of the

Literature.” Residential Treatment For Children & Youth 29(3):219–30.

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Rubin, D.M. et al. (2007) The impact of placement stability on behavioral well-being for

children in Foster Care, Pediatrics. U.S. National Library of Medicine. 119(2): 336–344.

Rutter, Michael. 1985. “Resilience in the Face of Adversity: Protective Factors and Resistance to

Psychiatric Disorder.” The British Journal of Psychiatry147(6):598–611.

Yi, Youngmin and Christopher Wildeman. 2018. “Can Foster Care Interventions Diminish

Justice System Inequality?” The Future of Children 28(1):37–58.