Simpson McKenna. (2025). Art and Crime: Analyzing the Relationship Between Creative Arts Participation and Juvenile Arrests. Georgetown University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Washington, D.C.

Simpson, McKenna. (2025). Art and Crime: Analyzing the Relationship Between Creative Arts Participation and Juvenile Arrests. Georgetown University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Washington, D.C.

Author Affiliations: Georgetown University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Washington, D.C.
Artforms: Creative arts
Program: Master of Public Policy thesis
Program Description: N/A
Program (Study) Location: N/A
Study Published: 2025
Participant Type: Non-incarcerated juveniles
Sample Size: : Nationally representative sample of 8,984 men and women aged 12 to
16 participating in the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ National Longitudinal Survey of
Youth; while the survey includes interviews conducted between 1997 and 2011, this
paper focuses on surveys completed in 2003-2004
Data Type: Quantitative
Evaluation Focus: Relationship between participation in creative arts and juvenile arrest rates.

Summary of Impact: Juveniles taking a creative arts course in high school were tk less likely to be arrested. The findings lose their significance when adjusted for sex and environment, suggesting that creative arts is one of many influences on juveniles.

KEYWORDS: arrest rates, creative arts, juvenile