This study uses a life course framework to investigate how police contacts may serve as a potential turning point in a violent crime trajectory. Drawing on the central ideas from deterrence and labeling theories, we determine whether individuals on different violent offending trajectories increase or decrease their offending following a police contact. Analyzing nine waves of data from the Rochester Youth Development Study, an integrated propensity score matching and latent class growth model was used. First, three violent trajectory groups emerged including high offenders, non-offenders, and low offenders. Second, after accounting for selection bias using propensity score matching procedures, experiencing a police contact increased the likelihood of future violent offending for the entire sample and for those who were on a low violent-offending trajectory specifically. These findings are interpreted as partial support for labeling theory. Limitations of the study and directions for future research are discussed.
Keywords: deterrence; interpersonal violence; labeling; life-course criminology; quantitative methods.