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Adult child-parent bonds and life course criminality

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  • Schroeder, Ryan D.
  • Giordano, Peggy C.
  • Cernkovich, Stephen A.

Abstract

Parents and parenting practices are often implicated as predictors of early childhood offending in criminological research, but little is known about the role of parents in adulthood in promoting or inhibiting criminal behavior. As juveniles mature into adult roles, parents also continue to mature and interact with their children in numerous roles throughout the life course. Unlike peers and romantic partners, parents are not easily discarded. Adults who have built a good foundation with their parents, then, possess additional social capital that has the potential to better adult life course outcomes, including criminal behavior. Social bonds formed within romantic relationships and stable employment have been the dominant factors identified within criminological literature in promoting criminal desistance, but in today's society with high rates of divorce and an unstable low-skilled job market, parents of origin may be an important stabilizing force in the lives of adults, particularly those lacking other conventional bonds. Using three waves of data from the Ohio Lifecourse Study, a project that spans some twenty-one years, the findings showed that strong relationships with parents are a significant predictor of criminal desistance for adult children, mainly through the emotional benefits these relationships have for the adult children. Furthermore, the data revealed that the adult child-parent relationship is a stronger predictor of desistance among the subjects with poor romantic relationship bonds. Implications for the life course theory are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Schroeder, Ryan D. & Giordano, Peggy C. & Cernkovich, Stephen A., 2010. "Adult child-parent bonds and life course criminality," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 562-571, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jcjust:v:38:y::i:4:p:562-571
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Anderson, Amy L., 2002. "Individual and contextual influences on delinquency: the role of the single-parent family," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 575-587.
    2. Sara Mclanahan, 2004. "Diverging destinies: How children are faring under the second demographic transition," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 41(4), pages 607-627, November.
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    1. Vaughn, Michael G. & DeLisi, Matt & Gunter, Tracy & Fu, Qiang & Beaver, Kevin M. & Perron, Brian E. & Howard, Matthew O., 2011. "The Severe 5%: A Latent Class Analysis of the Externalizing Behavior Spectrum in the United States," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 75-80.
    2. Giordano, Peggy C. & Seffrin, Patrick M. & Manning, Wendy D. & Longmore, Monica A., 2011. "Parenthood and crime: The role of wantedness, relationships with partners, and ses," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 405-416.
    3. Grace W. Y. Au & Dennis S. W. Wong, 2022. "Desistance from Crime among Chinese Delinquents: The Integrated Effects of Family Bonding, Prosocial Models, and Religious Bonding," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-17, May.
    4. Mohd Sufiean Hassan & Maizatul Haizan Mahbob & Mohd. Helmi Abd. Rahim, 2018. "Analysis Informal Social Control Scale toward Integrity Value of the Young People," International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, vol. 8(6), pages 181-201, June.
    5. DeLisi, Matt & Piquero, Alex R., 2011. "New frontiers in criminal careers research, 2000-2011: A state-of-the-art review," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 289-301, July.

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