Breaking the Cycle: Intergenerational Transmission of Criminal Justice Contact

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

Abstract

Among the many pathways that influence an individual’s likelihood of criminal justice system contact, one frequently raised factor is previous criminal justice contact of their parents (for example, through arrests or incarceration). Using data from the Criminal History Record Information (CHRI) database from Illinois and long-term data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN+), this presentation will investigate the transmission of criminal justice contact from parent to child. Findings suggest parental CJC is associated with a shorter time to first arrest and a greater number of arrests for their children (into adulthood), even after accounting for a wide range of socio-demographic characteristics and various family troubles not accounted for in prior work. The presentation will further use this empirical example to help introduce and analyze the complexities in dealing with age-period-cohort considerations across two generations when conducting intergenerational analyses. The presentation will address implications for intervention, policy, and practice.

Author

• Garrett Baker, Duke University