Does having an incarcerated parent adversely affect the outcomes of children? Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), I explore if incarceration of a biological father leads to increased probability of criminal behavior and arrest among adult offspring. Analysis suggests that adult children of incarcerated parents are more likely to engage in criminal behavior and face encounters with the criminal justice system. With 2 million individuals serving time in prison or jail in 2000 and the emergence of incarceration as a life-course event among less-educated males and minorities, intergenerational patterns of crime and incarceration may provide new context to the rapidly expanding prison population and the transmission of social disadvantage from parents to children.
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