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Title: Incarceration, Marriage, and Family Life
Resulting in 1 citation.
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Western, Bruce |
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Incarceration, Marriage, and Family Life Working Paper, Russell Sage Foundation, September 2004. Also: http://www.russellsage.org/publications/workingpapers/incarcerationmarriagefamilylife/document Cohort(s): NLSY79 Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation Keyword(s): Crime; Divorce; Domestic Violence; Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study; Incarceration/Jail; Marriage This paper examines the effects of incarceration on marriage and family life. The paper reports on three empirical analyses. First, estimates show that incarcerated men are only about half as likely to be married as noninstituional men of the same age, however they are just as likely to have children. By 2000, more than 2 million children had incarcerated fathers; 1 in 10 black children under age 10 had a father in prison or jail by 2000. Analysis of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 and the Fragile families Study of Child Wellbeing, indicates that formerly incarcerated men experience lower marriage rates and increased risks of divorce. Finally, analysis of domestic violence data shows that formerly-incarcerated men are about twice as likely to have assaulted the mothers of their children than men of the same age, race, and recent history of spouse abuse. Married women in longlasting and affectionate relationships are at lower risk of domestic violence. These results suggest that the crime-suppressing effects of incarceration, through incapacitation, may be offset by the negative effects of imprisonment on marriage. |
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Bibliography Citation
Western, Bruce. "Incarceration, Marriage, and Family Life." Working Paper, Russell Sage Foundation, September 2004. |