The Consequences of Parenthood Transition Among Serious Adolescent Offenders: Does Timing Matter?

• In Event: The Impact of Becoming a Parent on Offending and Desistence

Abstract

Prior research comparing the subsequent offending of those who transitioned into parenthood and those who did not has reached different conclusions, suggesting that parenthood effects are contingent on the contexts of transition. Nonetheless, few studies have directly tested the differential impacts of parenthood transition on offending and other aspects of life conditional on the timing of an event. Using data from a multi-site, longitudinal study of serious adolescent offenders who are predominantly minority males (n = 1,354) and appropriate statistical methods for determining causality (propensity score matching: PSM) and disentangling causal mechanisms (structural equation modeling: SEM), the current study finds that the transition to parenthood has no or even crime-generating effects among adolescents but crime-inhibiting effects among young adults. Supplemental analyses with male-only sample suggest that the harmful effects of teen parenthood are more pronounced for males and the beneficial effects of adult parenthood are more applicable to females. Consistent with Laub and Sampson (2003)’s predictions, the examination of specific causal mechanisms underlying the inhibitory effect of parenthood among young adults revealed that taking parental roles and expectations leads to reorientation of priorities and corresponding shift in the life styles of parents.

Author

• Chongmin Na, John Jay College of Criminal Justice