The Interplay of Fathers' Histories of Criminal Justice System Involvement on Social Capital, Parenting Capacities and Offspring's Outcomes: An Intergenerational, Structural Equation Approach

• In Event: Consequences of Parental Incarceration for Children and Families

Abstract

Arrest and incarceration, while still rare for most citizens, has become a common experience in the life-course of many Americans, particularly minorities and uneducated males. Given the interwoven nature of parents’ life course experiences with children’s experiences and outcomes, there is clearly potential for a harmful impact of parental histories of criminal justice system involvement - through arrest or incarceration. This project focuses the mechanisms by which parents’ experiences with official sanctions impact their future child’s emotional and behavioral outcomes. It examines how fathers’ experiences with official sanctions set in motion processes that result in social hardships, further system involvement and reduced parental capacities; and, the intergenerational effects of these constructs on offspring’s emotional and behavioral outcomes. This study is among the first to offer and examine the viability of a theoretical model for how these specific constructs may be linked. Data from the Rochester Youth Development Study (RYDS) and the Rochester Intergenerational Study (RIGS) are analyzed using a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach.

Author

• Molly Buchanan, University of Florida