title: Sex, Parental Incarceration, and Violence Perpetration Among a Sample of Young Adults.
abstract: Limited attention has been directed at adult children with a history of parental incarceration. The goal of the current study is to expand our understanding of the gendered effects of imprisonment on the adult offspring of incarcerated parents through the exploration of violence perpetration among a sample of young adults. Congruent with problem behavior theory, it is hypothesized that young adults who have been affected by parental incarceration will report greater aversive outcomes (i.e., more risk factors and violence perpetration) than their peers without a history of parental incarceration. Furthermore, it is hypothesized that parental incarceration predicts violent perpetration even after controlling for individual and familial risk factors and demographic characteristics. A series of bivariate and multivariate statistical models utilizing self-report data from 534 college students were generated to test said hypotheses. In addition, the moderating effects of students' sex and exposure to parental incarceration on the relationship between violence perpetration and risk factors were explored through the utilization of split logistic regression models. Roughly 1 in 10 (13.3%) students surveyed had experienced parental incarceration. As expected, students affected by parental incarceration were significantly more likely to perpetrate violence than their peers not affected by parental incarceration, net individual and familial risk. Although only a small percentage of students had experienced the imprisonment of a parent, parental incarceration predicted violence perpetration in young adulthood. These findings highlight the need to explore the long-lasting effects of parental incarceration on prisoners' offspring across the life course.
authors.affiliation: 1 Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Lisa R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Muftić
authors.affiliation: 1 Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Molly
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D054523:Adult Survivors of Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010379:Peer Group; D011329:Prisoners / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D057566:Self Report; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: adult offspring of incarcerated/criminal parents; college students; gendered violence perpetration; intergenerational crime; parental incarceration