The impact of imprisonment on marriage and divorce: a risk set matching approach

Marriage has a prominent place in criminological theory and research as one institution that has the potential to genuinely foster desistance from a criminal career. Mass imprisonment policies in the United States and elsewhere, therefore, pose a potential threat of increased crime if they impede th...

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Otros Autores: Apel, Robert (Otro)
Tipo de documento: Electrónico Artículo
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2010
En: Journal of quantitative criminology
Año: 2010, Volumen: 26, Número: 2, Páginas: 269-300
Acceso en línea: Presumably Free Access
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Sumario:Marriage has a prominent place in criminological theory and research as one institution that has the potential to genuinely foster desistance from a criminal career. Mass imprisonment policies in the United States and elsewhere, therefore, pose a potential threat of increased crime if they impede the ability of ex-prisoners to reintegrate into society by stigmatizing them and limiting their chances in the marriage market. We use a long-term study of a conviction cohort in The Netherlands to ascertain the effect that first-time imprisonment has on the likelihood of marriage and divorce. The results suggest that the effect of imprisonment on the likelihood of marriage (among unmarried offenders) is largely a selection artifact, although there is very weak evidence for a short-lived impact that does not persist past the first year post-release. This is interpreted as a residual incapacitation effect. On the other hand, the results strongly suggest that the experience of incarceration leads to a substantially higher divorce risk among offenders who are married when they enter prison.
ISSN:1573-7799
DOI:10.1007/s10940-009-9087-5