Abstract
Despite the uniqueness of an incarceration experience for adolescents, there remains a shortage of research on adolescents and emerging adults who have been recently released from detention centers and are returning home during the transitional time period of “reentry”. Drawing from the developmental literature, the current study uses a diverse (54% Black, 20% White, 26% Other Race) longitudinal survey of 337 male adolescents living in the United States to examine the interrelationships among crime, substance use, family conflict, and peer delinquency. A series of cross-lagged dynamic panel data models using four waves of data demonstrate that while family conflict and peer delinquency relate to increased offending and substance use, conflict in the family is a major driving force behind both future family conflict and peer delinquency. Overall, findings suggest that family conflict is an overlooked, but absolutely critical, factor in explaining deviance and deviant peer associations alike for adolescents and emerging adults who have been recently incarcerated and released.
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Notes
We estimated the models with and without full-information maximum likelihood (FIML). Results were substantively the same when cases were deleted using pairwise removal and imputed. Thus, to maintain the sample size of 337, we present the results using FIML.
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Authors’ Contributions
T.J.M. helped conceive of the idea, ran the data analysis, performed the sensitivity analyses, made the tables, wrote the middle of the paper, gathered information for references, and was the major contributor to the revisions of this study. He also proofread J.H.B.’s work. J.H.B. helped conceive of the idea, wrote the front end and discussion sections, wrote the response letter, and finished the article. He also read and edited the work of T.J.M. This is a collaborative effort. Both authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available in the University of Michigan’s ICPSR repository. The data can be applied for at https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/ICPSR/studies/27101?q=svori.
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Mowen, T.J., Boman, J.H. A Developmental Perspective on Reentry: Understanding the Causes and Consequences of Family Conflict and Peer Delinquency during Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood. J Youth Adolescence 47, 275–289 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-017-0794-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-017-0794-1