Parental incarceration and the transition to adulthood

Citation

Turney, Kristin & Lanuza, Yader R. (2017). Parental incarceration and the transition to adulthood. Journal of Marriage and Family. vol. 79 (5) pp. 1314-1330

Abstract

The growing literature on the intergenerational consequences of incarceration generally neglects to consider how paternal and maternal incarceration structures offspring's transition to adulthood, a fundamental life course stage that has become increasingly unequal. In this article, the authors use data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health to explore the relationship between parental incarceration and both subjective (e.g., respondent feels older compared to others his or her age) and behavioral (e.g., respondent is a parent) indicators of adulthood transitions among respondents younger than age 24 (N = 10,937). The results suggest that both paternal and maternal incarceration is positively associated with the number of subjective and behavioral adulthood transitions. The results also suggest that parental incarceration is associated with some individual indicators, especially subjective indicators, of adulthood. Taken together, these findings highlight that the high incarceration rate in the United States has transformative intergenerational consequences.

URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12429

Keyword(s)

family stress or crisis incarcerated parents life course theory National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health transition to adulthood

Reference Type

Journal Article

Journal Title

Journal of Marriage and Family

Author(s)

Turney, Kristin
Lanuza, Yader R.

Year Published

2017

Volume Number

79

Issue Number

5

Pages

1314-1330

Edition

July 5, 2017

ISSN/ISBN

1741-3737

DOI

10.1111/jomf.12429

Reference ID

8212