Criminal Justice Contact, Residential Independence, and Returns to the Parental Home

Abstract

AbstractObjectiveThe authors investigate whether criminal justice contact is associated with residential transitions—both home‐leaving and home‐returning—among contemporary young adults.BackgroundMore young adults live with their parents today than live independently. Despite the prevalence of criminal justice contact among young Americans, and research suggesting that such contact can reshape the life course, it is unknown whether the criminal justice system is associated with patterns of home‐leaving and home‐returning.MethodData are drawn from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, a sample of 8,984 young adults born between 1980 and 1984. Event history analyses are used to examine the timing of home‐leaving (n = 810,274 person‐months), and among those who leave, the timing of home‐returning (n = 630,394 person‐months). Criminal justice contact is measured via self‐reported arrests and spells of incarceration.ResultsAcross both the short term and long term, there is a robust association between criminal justice contact and residential transitions out of and back into the parental home. The risk of experiencing home‐leaving or home‐returning is considerably higher in the month an individual is arrested or completes a spell of incarceration, compared to individuals with no contact. Additionally, especially for arrest, the risk of each residential transition remains elevated in the months and years that follow contact.ConclusionFindings highlight how the criminal justice system may complicate the transition to adulthood by contributing to unstable residential trajectories.