Neighborhood Disadvantage and the Life Course: Examining Barriers to Pro-Social Life Transitions and their Diminished Impact on Desistance

• In Event: How Context Matters in the Life Course: Racial Composition, Collective Efficacy, and Life Transitions

Abstract

Contemporary theorizing on crime and the life course has identified neighborhood change as a potential turning point that can promote desistance from crime. Implicated in such discussions is the idea that neighborhood context shapes offending trajectories, presumably because structural characteristics of neighborhoods influence life transitions and identity changes. For example, some research indicates that exposure to high levels of neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage can serve as a barrier to criminal desistance, yet the mechanisms that underlie that link are not well understood. We suggest that it could occur through two processes: (1) structural characteristics of disadvantaged neighborhoods may decrease the likelihood of experiencing positive life transitions (e.g., meaningful romantic unions, quality employment, pro-social identity changes) that can promote desistance; and/or (2) the impact of positive life transitions on criminal desistance may be diminished in structurally disadvantaged neighborhoods. We assess the validity of these mechanisms using data from the Denver Youth Survey and Pathways to Desistance study. The findings will further illuminate the role of neighborhood context in the desistance process.

Authors

• Kyle Thomas, University of Colorado Boulder

• Eric P. Baumer, Pennsylvania State University

• Holly Nguyen, Pennsylvania State University