Parental Incarceration and Offspring Violent Victimization: A Finnish Total Population Study

• In Event: Investigating Crime and Delinquency Across the Life-Course from a Biopsychosocial Perspective

Abstract

Parental incarceration (PI) is associated with adverse offspring outcomes such as poorer educational achievement, physical and mental health problems, and criminal behavior, but the risk for violent victimization among children of incarcerated parents is a less studied topic. Victimization is not evenly distributed across the population: low socioeconomic status (SES) and criminality, for example, are known risk factors for victimization. In an earlier register-based study using Finnish nationwide longitudinal data on children born 1987-2003 (N=1,017,072), we found PI to be associated with elevated risks for offspring criminality after adjusting for parental education, coresiding with parents and the severity of parental criminal history. In the current study, we subsequently used linked medical and cause of death records to study the relationship between PI and offspring violent victimization. We analyzed the risks through early life-course: children may be at increased risk of victimization due to e.g. parental violent behavior in childhood, or later in life due to various disadvantages accumulated in families with a history of PI. We thus analyzed the risks separately in childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood taking into account family SES, parental criminal history and parental mental health and substance abuse problems. Preliminary results of the analysis will be presented.

Authors

• Ilona Nissinen, University of Helsinki

• Antti Latvala, University of Helsinki

• Karoliina Suonpää, Institute of Criminology and Legal Policy, University of Helsinki

• Pekka Martikainen, University of Helsinki