Residential Mobility and Desistance from Crime During Young Adulthood

• In Event: Life Circumstances and Desistance from Offending

Abstract

Prior theory and research suggests that residential mobility is a potential “turning point” in the life course that can facilitate desistance from crime by allowing young people to escape disadvantaged neighborhoods and criminogenic peer groups. Using monthly data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, this study investigates the impact of residential change on desistance from criminal behavior during the transition to young adulthood. In doing so, attention is paid to 1) the distance of the move and 2) whether the move results in improvements in community context. Random- and fixed-effects models are employed to examine within-individual change. Implications for theory and research on desistance are discussed.

Author

• Alex O. Widdowson, Florida State University