Criminal Justice Contact Across Generations: Assessing the Intergenerational Labeling Hypothesis

Purpose The present study assesses the intergenerational labeling hypothesis and examines whether the relationship between a child's involuntary contact with the police and subsequent offending depends on parental arrest history (and its timing in the life course of the child) and parent sex. Methods Using data from 312 parent-child dyads from the Rochester Youth Development Study and Rochester Intergenerational Study, generalized linear regression models estimate the main and interactive effects of a child's involuntary contact and parental arrest history on subsequent delinquency as well as potential mechanisms for deviance amplification. Results Main effects are consistent with labeling theory andmoderation analyses reveal that the impact of involuntary contact on subsequent delinquency depends on parental arrest history. More specifically, contact with the police on subsequent offending is greater when the focal parent has an arrest history, regardless of when the most recent arrest occurs in the life course of the child. However, some differences in the magnitude of the exacerbating effect of recent parental arrest emerged. Results also speak to potential mechanisms across mother-child and father-child dyads with respect to deviance amplification. Conclusions This research supports the life-course principles of "linked lives" and "timing in lives" and their application to labeling theory in an intergenerational context. To reduce deviance amplification, special attention should be paid to youth who experience a police contact in the context of a parental arrest history.