The effect of sentencing types on relationship dissolution: Evidence from Danish policy experiments

• In Event: Improving Outcomes in Correctional Populations II

Abstract

Prior research shows that imprisonment may matter for the risk of experiencing divorce or other types of relationship dissolution, as imprisonment implies separation and the social stigma of criminal conviction. Despite these fairly straightforward theoretical mechanisms, we currently lack empirical knowledge on the causal effect of sentencing types on relationship dissolution. This study fills this gap in the literature by examining how two noncustodial alternatives to imprisonment—community service and electronic monitoring—affect the risk of relationship dissolution in Denmark. While imprisonment might disrupt contacts between spouses or partners for significant periods, community service allows the relationship to continue undisrupted and electronic monitoring potentially enables spouses or partners to spend more time together than before the sentence. To obtain uncontaminated estimates of the effect of sentencing types on relationship dissolution we exploit two penal reforms that increased the use of electronic monitoring and community service as noncustodial alternatives to imprisonment in Denmark. We pair these reforms with a sample of all sentenced men in Denmark, available through the population registry at Statistics Denmark. Results show that community service and electronic monitoring significantly and persistently lower the risk of relationship dissolution following conviction.

Authors

• Peter Fallesen, University of Copenhagen

• Lars H. Andersen, Rockwool Foundation Research Unit / University of Copenhagen