Life-Course Patterns of Offending, Criminal Justice Sanctions and Life Satisfaction in Adulthood

• In Event: Using Longitudinal Data to Study The Causes and Consequences of Criminal Justice Contact Over the Lifecourse.

Abstract

Abstract: Criminal offending and sanctioning patterns have been linked to negative life outcomes in adulthood, such as general life dissatisfaction, weakened social bonds, poor health, and early death. Research in this area has typically focused on non-representative disadvantaged or criminally-involved samples. We use the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 cohort, a nationally representative sample of people born in the United States from 1980 to 1984, to estimate a hedonic model of life satisfaction in the late 20s, focusing specifically on the association of long-term trajectories of criminal offending and sanctioning, net of other common predictors on self-reported life satisfaction.

Authors

• Natalie Todak, Arizona State University

• Gary Sweeten, Arizona State University