Parents and Children Involved in the Criminal Justice System: Intergenerational Patterns of Delinquency and Resilience

• In Event: Touching the System: Examining Intergenerational Contact with the Criminal Justice System, Implications for Policy and Practice

Abstract

Juvenile delinquency has substantial costs for society, the victims, and the perpetrators. Previous research has demonstrated that parents’ history of criminal justice involvement is one of the most important predictors of children’s delinquent and problem behaviors. However, some at-risk children exhibit intergenerational resilience. To date, no prospective intergenerational study of delinquency has focused on children of parents who have been involved in the juvenile justice system. Using data from the Northwestern Juvenile Project and the Next Generation studies (funded in part by NIJ) this presentation will address how parents’ delinquent and criminal behaviors during their own adolescence and in adulthood influence those of their adolescent children. We will discuss the implications of our findings for policy, practice, and the reduction of delinquent behaviors.

Author

• Linda A. Teplin, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine