Adolescent substance use as determinant and consequence of the school-to-prison pipeline: Disentangling individual risk, social determinants, and group disparities

PROJECT NARRATIVE School-based arrests have skyrocketed 300-500% since the 1990s, and out-of-school suspensions (which double the risk of arrest) have more than doubled over the past 40 years; yet, the impact of substance use as a determinant and consequence of these phenomena remains largely unexplored. Given that (1) adolescents with substance use problems are at increased risk of contact with the justice system, and exposure to the justice system increases subsequent risk of substance use problems; (2) substance use is a prototypical “zero tolerance” infraction implicated in school discipline/arrest; and (3) there are known racial and sexual orientation-based disparities in school discipline and substance use, the goal of the proposed research is to investigate the individual-, school-, and community-level factors that put adolescents at risk for substance use, school discipline, and justice system contact. Identifying these factors can inform multi-level targets for policies and interventions not just at the individual level, but also at the school and community levels.