Patterns of Family Instability and Crime: The Association of Timing of the Family's Disruption With Subsequent Adolescent and Young Adult Criminality

• NCJ Number: 131635
• Journal: Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 19 Issue: 3 Dated: (June 1990) Pages: 201-220
• Author(s): B R Mednick; B L Baker; L E Carothers
• Date Published: 1990
• Length: 20 pages
• Grant Number(s): 75-7-060
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Health,Education, and Welfare
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS.

Annotation

Longitudinal data collected from a sample of 410 males, ages 19-21 who participated in an 18-year follow-up study of a Danish prospective perinatal cohort, were used to analyze selected correlates of family disruption and their impact on adolescent and young adult criminal behavior.

Abstract

The variables studied included paternal crime, family patterns of stability, and socioeconomic status changes over the life of the children. The findings showed that divorce followed by a stable family constellation was not associated with an increased risk of delinquency or criminality, although divorce followed by other destabilizing family changes did increase the risk. Age at onset of criminality was not related to stability patterns. Male children experiencing continuing family instability during adolescence were especially at risk. Paternal crime and downward trends in socioeconomic status were both associated with offspring crime. 4 tables, 1 figure, and 50 references (Author abstract modified)