About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

LOG IN
LOG IN


53 J. Res. Crime & Delinquency 3 (2016)

handle is hein.journals/jrcd53 and id is 1 raw text is: Article journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 2016, Vol. 53(1) 3-35 @ The Author(s) 2015 Reprints and permission: utco es an sagepub.com/journalsPerissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0022427815592452 the Life-Course rc.sagepub.com Penalties of Parental Incarceration Daniel P. Mears' and Sonja E. Siennick' Abstract Objectives: The transition to adulthood can be challenging, especially for children of incarcerated parents. Drawing on reentry and life-course scho- larship, we argue that parental incarceration may adversely affect multiple life outcomes for children as they progress from adolescence into adult- hood and that such effects may persist from early young adulthood into late young adulthood. Methods: The study uses propensity score matching analyses of National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health data (N = I 2,844). Results: Analyses identified harmful effects of parental incarceration on many life domains, including criminal behavior, mental health, illegal drug use, education, earnings, and intimate relationships. These effects typically surfaced by early young adulthood and continued into late young adulthood. Conclusions: The results suggest that parental incarceration constitutes a sig- nificant turning point in the lives of young people and underscore the impor- tance of life-course perspectives for understanding incarceration effects. College of Criminology and Criminal justice, Florida State University, Eppes Hall, Tallahassee, FL, USA Corresponding Author: Daniel P. Mears, College of Criminology and Criminal justice, Florida State University, 112 South Copeland Street, Eppes Hall, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA. Email: dmears@fsu.edu