Intergenerational educational pathways and instrumental crime, violent crime, and illegal drug use across the life course

ABSTRACT

In light of the growing enrollment among first-generation college students, as well as the rising concern of downward educational mobility in the U.S., increased attention has been given to the relationship between intergenerational educational pathways (i.e., a comparison of one’s attained education to their parents’ attainments) and crime. The few studies in existence, however, have only examined general involvement in crime, and with mixed findings. Drawing on data from The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, this study examines the associations between intergenerational educational mobility and instrumental crime, violent crime, and illegal drug use. It also tests whether the relationships operate indirectly through familial transitions, occupational status, economic hardship, and social-psychological well-being in young adulthood. Results broadly suggest that upward educational mobility is associated with decreases in crime, particularly for instrumental crime and illegal drug use, whereas downward mobility is associated with increases in all crime types. The relationships are also partially explained by adult status characteristics during adulthood. Findings are discussed as they relate to the importance of educational mobility in contemporary criminology.

KEYWORDS:

• Education
• social mobility
• life course criminology

Acknowledgments

The author wishes to thank the Editor and the anonymous Reviewers, as well as Jessica Finkeldey, David MacKinnon, and Raymond Swisher for thoughtful suggestions on earlier drafts. Direct correspondence to Christopher R. Dennison, Department of Sociology, University at Buffalo, SUNY, Buffalo, NY 14260. E-mail: [email protected]. This research uses data from Add Health, a program project directed by Kathleen Mullan Harris and designed by J. Richard Udry, Peter S. Bearman, and Kathleen Mullan Harris at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and funded by grant P01-HD31921 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, with cooperative funding from 23 other federal agencies and foundations. Special acknowledgment is due Ronald R. Rindfuss and Barbara Entwisle for assistance in the original design. Information on how to obtain the Add Health data files is available on the Add Health website. No direct support was received from grant P01-HD31921 for this analysis.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Because Add Health is a school-based sample, all crime types are dichotomously coded since little variation in offending is lost with this approach. However, results presented here are similar to analyses that use variety scores for the crime measures (results available upon request).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Christopher R. Dennison

Christopher R. Dennison is an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology at the University at Buffalo, SUNY. His research examines the association between intergenerational social mobility and antisocial behavior, as well as the degree to which these consequences are conditioned by individual and contextual characteristics. Other research examines the collateral consequences associated with involvement in the criminal justice system.