Immigration Status and Delinquency: Examining the Role of Family Structure Stability and Parental Control

• In Event: Immigration, Crime and Recividism

Abstract

With increasing calls to secure the nation’s borders and strengthen immigration controls, coupled with othering rhetoric suggesting that some immigrants are “rapists” and “criminals,” the narrative promulgated by those in power is that immigrants pose a threat to the social body. However, empirical studies overwhelmingly find that foreign-born immigrants exhibit remarkably low involvement in crime regardless of race/ethnicity. Moreover, crime statistics indicate that states with the highest immigration growth rates often have lowest crime rates, particularly in violent crime. The present study examines the relationship between immigration status and delinquency using a nationally representative sample (N=4834) from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health). Drawing on social control theory to examine the immigrant-crime relationship, this study examines whether direct and indirect parental control and a dynamic measure of family structure potentially account for the apparent lower prevalence of delinquency among immigrant youth. This study helps address misinformation about the impact of immigration and further explain the causes of delinquency.

Author

• Lanmeng Ma, University of New Haven