Effect of Marriage and Spousal Criminality on Recidivism

TY - JOUR

T1 - Effect of Marriage and Spousal Criminality on Recidivism

AU - Andersen, Signe Hald

AU - Andersen, Lars Højsgaard

AU - Skov, Peer Ebbesen

PY - 2015/4/1

Y1 - 2015/4/1

N2 - The authors analyzed whether the effect of marriage on recidivism varied by spousal criminality. For this purpose, they used propensity score matching and full population data from Statistics Denmark on all unmarried and previously convicted men from birth cohorts 1965–1985 (N = 102,839). The results showed that marriage reduced recidivism compared to nonmarriage only when the spouse had no criminal record. Similarly, marriage to a nonconvicted spouse reduced recidivism significantly more than marriage to a convicted spouse. These findings not only underline how important marriage is for social integration but also stress the heterogeneous nature of the protective effects of marriage.

AB - The authors analyzed whether the effect of marriage on recidivism varied by spousal criminality. For this purpose, they used propensity score matching and full population data from Statistics Denmark on all unmarried and previously convicted men from birth cohorts 1965–1985 (N = 102,839). The results showed that marriage reduced recidivism compared to nonmarriage only when the spouse had no criminal record. Similarly, marriage to a nonconvicted spouse reduced recidivism significantly more than marriage to a convicted spouse. These findings not only underline how important marriage is for social integration but also stress the heterogeneous nature of the protective effects of marriage.

U2 - 10.1111/jomf.12176

DO - 10.1111/jomf.12176

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 27524833

SN - 0022-2445

VL - 77

SP - 496

EP - 509

JO - Journal of Marriage and Family

JF - Journal of Marriage and Family

IS - 2

ER -