Family Structure as a Predictor of Future Criminal Involvement

• In Event: Poster Session

Abstract

Previous research indicates that residing in a single-parent household predicts increased delinquency among adolescents relative to a two-parent household (Demuth and Brown, 2004; Price and Kunz, 2003). Using data from the first and fourth waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), this study extends prior research by investigating whether family structure during adolescence is associated with involvement in the criminal justice system in early adulthood. Residence in a two biological parent household during adolescence reduces respondents’ odds of an arrest as an adult compared to respondents who lived in alternative family structures. This relationship between family structure during adolescence and likelihood of adult arrest persists when controlling for various family processes, neighborhood context, and prior adolescent delinquency. Thus, family structure during adolescence appears to have a lasting impact on adult criminal involvement.

Author

• Haley Stritzel, University of Tulsa