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- Title
The Impact of Imprisonment on Marriage and Divorce: A Risk Set Matching Approach.
- Authors
Apel, Robert; Blokland, Arjan; Nieuwbeerta, Paul; Schellen, Marieke
- Abstract
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.
- Subjects
NETHERLANDS; UNITED States; SOCIAL conditions of ex-convicts; IMPRISONMENT; IMPRISONMENT -- Social aspects; SOCIAL aspects of marriage; DIVORCE &; society; SOCIAL stigma; CRIMINOLOGICAL theory; RISK -- Mathematical models
- Publication
Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 2010, Vol 26, Issue 2, p269
- ISSN
0748-4518
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s10940-009-9087-5