A Developmental Perspective on Reentry: Understanding the Causes and Consequences of Family Conflict and Peer Delinquency during Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood

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.

Do We Have It All Wrong? The Protective Roles of Peers and Criminogenic Risks From Family During Prison Reentry

“…Examining a large sample of returning adults, Boman and Mowen (2017) found that individuals who associated with criminally active peers were likely to offend themselves. Similar results were found among returning youth—association with delinquent peers was associated with increased offending and substance use (Mowen & Boman, 2018a). The notion that peers are criminogenic has been highlighted in other work as well (e.g., Abrams, 2007; Breese et al, 2000; Visher & Travis, 2003).…”

(Re)Recognizing the multidimensional roles of family and peers on crime

“…Further complicating this situation is a possibility that is just being realized: Family and peer relationships may be mutually intertwined in the way that they relate to crime. In a recent article (Mowen & Boman, ), we found that high levels of family conflict may drive youth into deviant peer relationships as they undergo the transition between adolescence and emerging adulthood. Interestingly, elements of peer relationships had no impact on family relationships, suggesting that the causal path which leads to deviant peer associations may begin with negative aspects of the youth's family relationships.…”

Prediction of Youth and Adult Recidivism Among Spanish Juveniles Involved in Serious Offenses

“…According to several authors (Basto-Pereira et al, 2015; Brame et al, 2018; Mowen & Boman, 2018; Schmidt et al, 2011), a comprehensive assessment of juvenile risk can predict not only juvenile recidivism but also criminal persistence into emerging adulthood. In fact, developmental research has shown that several outcomes (e.g., risk-taking behavior, impulsivity, or emotion regulation) of youth up to an age of 25 are more similar to younger adolescents than to adults (Arnett, 2000; Farrington et al, 2012).…”