Desistance from Crime: A Social Learning Approach to Unpacking the Good Marriage Effect

• In Event: Transitions to Adulthood: How Institutional Support, Education, Intimate Relationships, and Marriage Impact the Life Course

Abstract

Life course research on criminal continuity and change has traditionally focused on a small set of adult transition events—namely marriage and employment—to understand the process of crime cessation. The topic of marriage as a turning point has garnered particular attention. The extant literature is dominated by a focus on Sampson and Laub’s (1993) age-graded theory of informal social control, and primarily emphasizes the social control potential of spouses (e.g., mutual investment, restructuring of routine activities, “knifing off” from antisocial peers, direct monitoring/control) in explaining the marriage – desistance link. A limitation of existing research is that it largely ignores the issue of why some married individuals are able to successfully carve out a more prosocial path while others are not. In the current investigation, we draw on longitudinal data from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (TARS) to develop a more social view of partner influence processes. In particular, we explore linkages between the partners’ own behaviors, a series of relationship-based anchors, a broad range of sociodemographic factors, and offending trajectories. Furthermore, in light of evidence that the “good marriage effect” is less salient for women, we focus particular attention to the role of gender during all analytic stages.

Authors

• Jennifer Copp, Florida State University

• Peggy Giordano, Bowling Green State University

• Wendy Manning, Bowling Green State University

• Monica Longmore, Bowling Green State University