Journal of Forensic Psychology

Abstract

The Effects of Parental Incarceration on the Criminal Activity of Adult Children

Mark Gius

According to a 2007 report prepared for the Annie E. Casey Foundation, 55% of prisoners in state penitentiaries and 63% of prisoners in federal penitentiaries have children under the age of 18. Given this rather large population of children who have incarcerated parents, it would be worthwhile to determine if the criminal histories of parents have any effects on the likelihood that their adult children will also become involved in criminal activities. Using data from the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and a logistic regression, it was found that the incarceration of either a mother or a father greatly increases the likelihood that an adult child will be arrested. In addition, men who are unemployed, smokers, single and not college-educated are more likely to be arrested than others. These results suggest that public policies that increase educational and employment opportunities and reduce parental incarcerations would reduce the arrest rate for young adults.