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PATERNAL INCARCERATION AND CHILDREN'S RISK OF BEING CHARGED BY EARLY ADULTHOOD: EVIDENCE FROM A DANISH POLICY SHOCK*

Publication ,  Journal Article
Wildeman, C; Andersen, SH
Published in: Criminology
February 1, 2017

In this article, we exploit a Danish criminal justice reform that dramatically decreased the risk of incarceration for individuals convicted of some types of crimes to isolate how having a father who was eligible for a noncustodial sentence under the reform affected a child's risk of ever subsequently being charged with a crime. Specifically, we use a difference-in-differences framework to compare all Danish children 12–18 years of age whose fathers were eligible for a noncustodial sentence instead of incarceration under the reform [N = 1,546] with a reference group of children whose fathers were convicted of similar crimes but were ineligible [N = 1,852] in the 2 years surrounding when the reform was enacted [July 1, 2000] as a way of testing the effects of the reform on children's risk of ever being charged with a crime by 22–28 years of age. Our estimates indicate that having a father sentenced under the reform sharply decreased the risk of being charged in the next 10 years for boys but not for girls. Taken together, these results indicate that both paternal criminality and paternal incarceration promote the criminal justice contact of male children and, hence, that paternal incarceration is not solely a symptom of criminality but also a cause of it.

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Published In

Criminology

DOI

EISSN

1745-9125

ISSN

0011-1384

Publication Date

February 1, 2017

Volume

55

Issue

1

Start / End Page

32 / 58

Related Subject Headings

  • Criminology
  • 4402 Criminology
  • 2203 Philosophy
  • 2201 Applied Ethics
  • 1602 Criminology
 

Citation

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MLA
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Wildeman, C., & Andersen, S. H. (2017). PATERNAL INCARCERATION AND CHILDREN'S RISK OF BEING CHARGED BY EARLY ADULTHOOD: EVIDENCE FROM A DANISH POLICY SHOCK*. Criminology, 55(1), 32–58. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9125.12124
Wildeman, C., and S. H. Andersen. “PATERNAL INCARCERATION AND CHILDREN'S RISK OF BEING CHARGED BY EARLY ADULTHOOD: EVIDENCE FROM A DANISH POLICY SHOCK*.” Criminology 55, no. 1 (February 1, 2017): 32–58. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9125.12124.
Wildeman, C., and S. H. Andersen. “PATERNAL INCARCERATION AND CHILDREN'S RISK OF BEING CHARGED BY EARLY ADULTHOOD: EVIDENCE FROM A DANISH POLICY SHOCK*.” Criminology, vol. 55, no. 1, Feb. 2017, pp. 32–58. Scopus, doi:10.1111/1745-9125.12124.
Journal cover image

Published In

Criminology

DOI

EISSN

1745-9125

ISSN

0011-1384

Publication Date

February 1, 2017

Volume

55

Issue

1

Start / End Page

32 / 58

Related Subject Headings

  • Criminology
  • 4402 Criminology
  • 2203 Philosophy
  • 2201 Applied Ethics
  • 1602 Criminology