The Long Term Consequences of Parental Imprisonment: Mortality, Family Formation, and Offending

• In Event: Developmental and Life Course Consequences of Parental Incarceration

Abstract

The number of children with a parent in prison has been steadily increasing during the last couple of decades. A vast and growing body of research has shown that parental imprisonment has negative consequences for children. Most of this research focuses on offspring offending or offspring mental health problems as outcomes, and often relatively short follow-up periods are used. This study focuses on the long-term consequences of parental imprisonment in various life domains: mortality, family formation, and offending. Data from the Dutch, multigenerational Transfive Study was used. A total of 1,241 individuals were followed over the life-course with an average follow-up period of 47 years. Among these individuals, 116 experienced parental imprisonment during childhood and another 300 experienced parental criminality but not parental imprisonment during childhood. Preliminary results show that children of imprisoned parents were at increased risk to die prematurely (i.e., before age 65) compared to children of criminal or non-criminal parents. Parental imprisonment was also associated with teenage parenthood and shotgun marriages. Moreover, children who experienced parental imprisonment, and especially those who experienced repeat parental imprisonment, were at increased risk to become offenders themselves.

Authors

• Steve van de Weijer, Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement

• Holly Smallbone, Griffith University

• Valery Bouwman, Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement

• Iris Meyer, Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement