Shifting Perspectives: Cognitive Changes Mediate the Impact of Romantic Relationships on Desistance from Crime

Although research regarding the impact of marriage on desistance is important, most romantic relationships during early adulthood, the period in the life course when involvement in criminal offending is relatively high, do not involve marriage. Using the internal moderator approach, we tested hypotheses regarding the impact of non-marital romantic relationships on desistance using longitudinal data from a sample of approximately 600 African American young adults. The results largely supported the study hypotheses. We found no significant association between simply being in a romantic relationship and desistance from offending. On the other hand, for both males and females quality of romantic relationship was rather strongly associated with desistance. Partner antisociality only influenced the offending of females. Much of the effect of quality of romantic relationship on desistance was mediated by a reduction in commitment to a criminogenic knowledge structure (a hostile view of people and relationships, concern with immediate gratification, and cynical view of conduct norms). The mediating effect of change in affiliation with deviant peers was not significant once the contribution of criminogenic knowledge structure was taken into account. The findings are discussed in terms of social control and cognitive accounts of the mechanisms whereby romantic relationships influence desistance.     

The relationship between marijuana use and intimate partner violence in a nationally representative, longitudinal sample

Intimate partner violence is a significant public health problem, as these behaviors have been associated with a number of negative health outcomes including illicit drug use, physical injury, chronic pain, sexually transmitted diseases, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder. The current study examined the association between marijuana use and intimate partner violence using a longitudinal survey of adolescents and young adults ages 15 to 26 years. Data were obtained from 9,421 adolescents in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) Waves 1 through 4 (1995-2008). Marijuana use was measured in the past year at each wave and participants were categorized as "users" or "nonusers." Partner violence was constructed using six items (three pertaining to victimization and three concerning perpetration) from Wave 4 (2007-2008). Using these six items, participants were categorized as "victims only," "perpetrators only," or "victims and perpetrators." Survey multinomial regression was used to examine the relationship between marijuana use and intimate partner violence. Consistent use of marijuana during adolescence was most predictive of intimate partner violence (OR = 2.08, p < .001). Consistent marijuana use (OR = 1.85, p < .05) was related to an increased risk of intimate partner violence perpetration. Adolescent marijuana use, particularly consistent use throughout adolescence, is associated with perpetration or both perpetration of and victimization by intimate partner violence in early adulthood. These findings have implications for intimate partner violence prevention efforts, as marijuana use should be considered as a target of early intimate partner violence intervention and treatment programming.     

A TEST OF LIFE‐COURSE EXPLANATIONS FOR STABILITY AND CHANGE IN ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR FROM ADOLESCENCE TO YOUNG ADULTHOOD*

Using longitudinal data from a sample of 236 young adults and their romantic partners, we tested a life‐course model that integrates social control and peer influence arguments with the idea of assortative mating. For both males and females, adolescent delinquency and affiliation with deviant peers predicted having an antisocial romantic partner as a young adult. Involvement with an antisocial romantic partner, in turn, had both a direct effect on crime as well as indirect influence through adult peer affiliations. For females, quality of the romantic relationship also predicted crime. The analyses revealed several moderating influences in addition to these mediating effects. For females, a conventional romantic partner, strong job attachment, and conventional adult friends all served to moderate the chances that a woman with a delinquent history would graduate to adult crime. In contrast, only conventional adult friends served this function for males.     

Romantic partners and young adult offending: Considering the role of partner's socioeconomic characteristics

In this study, we examined whether and to what extent the effects on offending of marriage and different types of cohabitating partnerships depend on the romantic partner's socioeconomic status (SES). Such research addresses a key gap in knowledge regarding potential heterogeneity of effects on behavior of romantic partnerships. Drawing on the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, we examined the within‐individual effects of three romantic partner's socioeconomic characteristics–education, employment, and income–on offending from ages 18 to 34. Results revealed that marriage was related to reductions in arrest only for those whose spouse was employed (full or part time) and had income. In contrast to marriage, partner SES was not related to arrest among those who cohabited with a partner they never married. Additionally, partner SES was often associated with reductions in arrest among those who cohabited with a partner they later married, but the reductions were statistically indistinguishable across levels of partner SES. Lastly, these effects were experienced similarly for low‐ and high‐SES individuals alike, and no gender differences were detected in these effects. Our findings suggest that important life events such as marriage and cohabitation can be behavior‐altering transitions, but the effects of these events are variable.     

BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO: ROMANTIC DISSOLUTION,OFFENDING, AND SUBSTANCE USE DURING THE TRANSITION TO ADULTHOOD*

Recent studies have directed attention to the nature of romantic involvement and its implications for offending over the life course. However, this body of research has overlooked a defining aspect of nonmarital romantic relationships: Most come to an end. By drawing on insights from general strain theory, the age‐graded theory of informal social control, and research on delinquent peer exposure, we explore the impact of romantic dissolution on offending and substance use during late adolescence and emerging adulthood. Using data from the 1997 cohort of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, we arrive at three general conclusions: 1) Experiencing a breakup is directly related to a range of antisocial outcomes; 2) the effect of a breakup is dependent on post‐breakup relationship transitions; and 3) a breakup is associated with increases in offending and substance use among males and in substance use among females. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of our findings for the future of research on romantic involvement and crime over the life course.     

Pathways to Depressive Symptoms among Former Inmates

Drawing on data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), we examine the association between incarceration and depressive symptoms among a sample of 13,131 young adults. We find that a history of incarceration is associated with a higher expected rate of depressive symptoms and that this relationship operates most strongly through material hardship. We find no differences in the main effect of incarceration across groups, but we find that the role of certain mediating variables may vary, with marital and employment status being a stronger mediator for males than females, and marriage being a stronger mediator for whites compared to blacks and Hispanics. Our results suggest that incarceration constitutes a potent stressor, but that the pathways to depressive symptoms may differ.     

Attitudes toward Wife Abuse of Police Officers and Judiciary Members in Turkey: Profession,Gender, Ambivalent Sexism and Sex Roles

This study examined the attitudes of police officers and judiciary members toward wife abuse in Turkey and the relation between these attitudes and profession, ambivalent sexism (hostile/benevolent sexism), gender, and gender roles. The following instruments were used for the analyses: The Attitudes Toward Wife Abuse Scale (AWAS), the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI), and the Bem Sex Role Inventory. The participants were 300 police officers and 150 judiciary members selected from different regions of Turkey. Results showed that compared to judiciary members, police officers are more tolerant of physical and verbal abuse of women in marriage, but less tolerant of the idea of the victim leaving an abusive marriage partner. Similarly, men were more tolerant than women of those husbands who physically and verbally abuse their wives, but less supportive of the wife leaving the abusive partner. Profession and ambivalent sexism (hostile/benevolent sexism) were found to be the strongest predictors of attitudes toward wife abuse.     

Enhancing the assessment of verbal aggression through observational methodology

The assessment of verbal aggression in adolescent and young adult dating relationships has largely relied on self-report methodology. We investigated whether information on verbal aggression derived from an observational assessment would enhance the prediction of romantic relationship satisfaction and dissolution in a sample of young adult dating relationships (N = 113). Observationally assessed verbal aggression was moderately associated with self-reported verbal aggression. Consistent with previous findings, neither self-reported nor observationally assessed verbal aggression was associated with relationship dissolution. Observationally assessed verbal aggression and self-reported verbal aggression each uniquely accounted for a substantial amount of variability in romantic relationship satisfaction. The findings of this study provide additional support for conducting multimethod assessments of verbal aggression and incorporating observational methodology in the study of aggression in young adult dating relationships.     

A Pilot Study to Develop the Police Transformational Leadership Scale (PTLS) and Examine Its Associations with Psychosocial Well-Being of Officers

In these times of increased tensions between police officers and their communities, the need for effective police leadership is more important than ever. Past research suggests that a transformational style of leadership is preferred by most officers, with supervisors who are good communicators, trustworthy, effective at training officers for changing times, and able to create a shared cooperative vision. The present study developed a new Transformational Police Leadership Scale (TPLS) that police departments might eventually use to assess supervisor leadership characteristics. Participants included 152 US police officers who completed anonymous surveys to report demographics, to rate leadership behaviors of immediate supervisors, and to report their psychosocial well-being (self-esteem, perceived police social support, romantic partner conflict). Exploratory factor analysis produced a 20-item TPLS with three dimensions showing acceptable internal reliability and test-retest reliability: Clear Communication, Training and Cooperation, and Fairness and Honesty. The three TPLS dimensions were not associated with demographics (age, gender, marital status, college education, patrol officer rank, years of service), suggesting their relevance to a variety of officers. The TPLS dimensions significantly explained variance in psychosocial well-being of police officers including better self-esteem (R ² = .11), more perceived police social support (R ² = .30), and less romantic partner conflict (R ² = .12). Future research could expand evaluation of TPLS psychometric characteristics such as confirmatory factor analysis with larger and more diverse sample, inter-rater reliability, and convergent validity with other non-police measures of transformative leadership.     

Associations between Dating Aggression Involvement and Subsequent Relationship Commitment

Little is known about how an individual’s commitment to their romantic partner evolves over the course of a relationship following involvement in dating aggression (DA). The present study explored longitudinal associations between both psychological and physical DA involvement and subsequent changes in commitment. We hypothesized that experiences of physical and psychological DA may be related to decreased feelings of commitment (including both dedication and constraint) in a relationship, and that gender may moderate the link between DA and changes in commitment. One-hundred and twenty (60 female) young adults (ages 18–25) in a romantic relationship completed electronic questionnaires each month for 6 months, (M age Wave 1?=?22.44, SD =?2.20). DA involvement and commitment were measured by the Revised Conflict Tactics Scale, and the Revised Commitment Inventory, respectively. Using multilevel modeling, the current study examined shifts in commitment (dedication and constraint) following DA involvement. As hypothesized, physical and psychological dating aggression involvement were both associated with declines in relationship commitment. Analyses also tested for potential gender interactions with physical and psychological dating aggression involvement for both constraint and dedication. No significant gender interactions emerged. These findings add to the accumulating evidence for the deleterious effects of dating aggression on relationships, including on relationship commitment, and illustrate important implications for interventions aimed at reducing dating aggression among young adults.

     

Adult violence with the mother and sibling as predictors of partner violence

The present study provides the first available evaluation of how violence with the mother and siblings during adulthood is associated with the occurrence of partner violence in young adults. Because a pattern of reciprocal partner violence is well documented, the authors hypothesized that reciprocal violence would also be found for adults and their mothers and for adults and their siblings. The authors also hypothesized that reciprocal violence with the mother and sisters would explain variance in partner violence even when controlling for other known predictors (poverty, poor family support, stress, anger, low self-esteem). Study participants included 377 college adults (114 men, 263 women; mean age = 24.4 years) who completed questionnaires to report their present violence to and from their mothers, sisters, brothers, and romantic partners. Violence is measured with a modified Conflict Tactics Scale. No sibling gender differences are found in violence reported as adults. Factor analysis confirms good fit for three clusters of reciprocal violence for adults: violence with the mother, violence with siblings, violence with the romantic partner. Violence with the mother and siblings significantly explains variance in partner violence even after controlling for other contextual variables, but only for women. One interpretation of present results is that because women receive less socialization than men to use violence, these two within-family models of violence have more significance for increasing their risk of partner violence. Partner violence prevention programs could include participation of mothers and siblings to enhance development of more peaceful conflict resolution patterns within and outside the family.     

Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration from Adolescence to Young Adulthood: Trajectories and the Role of Familial Factors

Prior empirical research on intimate partner violence (IPV) in adolescence and young adulthood often focuses on exposure to violence in the family-of-origin using retrospective and cross-sectional data. Yet individuals’ families matter beyond simply the presence or absence of abuse, and these effects may vary across time. To address these issues, the present study employed five waves of longitudinal data from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (TARS) to investigate the trajectory of IPV from adolescence to young adulthood (N = 950 respondents, 4,750 person-periods) with a specific focus on how familial factors continue to matter across the life course. Results indicated that family-of-origin violence and parent-child relationship quality were independent predictors of IPV. The effect of parent-child relationship quality on IPV also became greater as individuals aged. These results have implications for policies targeted at reducing IPV.     

ADOLESCENT ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS AND DELINQUENCY INVOLVEMENT

While much attention has centered on the role of peer influence for adolescent delinquency, that of romantic partners has been largely neglected. Recent analyses of romantic relationships during the adolescent period suggest their general importance to development; research highlights that adolescents themselves frequently describe these relations as relatively intimate and influential. Thus, while classic theoretical frameworks such as differential association theory have often centered on the role of peers, their general logic is consistent with the notion that such relationships may indeed "matter" as a source of influence on delinquent behavior. Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health are well suited for examining the role of romantic partners because they allow for the identification and recreation of friendship networks and connections between romantic partners. Forging these interconnections, we link friends' and romantic partners' delinquency to respondents' own delinquency, enabling an examination of romantic partner influence on adolescent delinquency, beyond that influence associated with friends' behaviors. Drawing on theories of gender stratification, we also explore whether the effect of romantic partners' behavior is conditioned by gender. Findings reveal that romantic partners' delinquency exerts a unique effect on respondents' delinquency net of friends' delinquency and control variables. Additionally, romantic partners' deviance has a stronger effect on female involvement in minor deviance. We find no evidence, however, that gender conditions the strength of romantic partners' more serious delinquency on respondents' serious delinquency.     

Observed Initiation and Reciprocity of Physical Aggression in Young,At-Risk Couples

The present study examined sex differences in initiation of physical aggression as observed during discussion tasks and in the likelihood of a similar response from the partner. In addition, patterns for men and women in the prevalence of aggression initiation and partner reciprocation across 4 time points spanning approximately 9 years from late adolescence through the mid-20s are examined, as well as overall associations with reported aggression and injuries. Findings indicated that the young women were more likely than the men to initiate physical aggression at late adolescence. However, by the mid-20s in early adulthood there were no significant sex differences in initiation rates. The average rates of reciprocation across the 4 time points appeared to be similar for men and women. Women and men appeared more likely to report injuries if the couples observed involved mutual physical aggression in their interactions.     

The Impact of Marital Aggression on Women's Psychological and Marital Functioning in a Newlywed Sample

The impact of husband-to-wife physical aggression on changes in wives' personal and marital well-being was examined in a representative sample of newlywed couples. The sample consisted of couples who completed baseline (time of marriage) and first anniversary assessments as part of the Buffalo Newlywed Study (n = 543). After controlling for sociodemographic variables, initial relationship satisfaction, and verbal aggression, wives who experienced physical aggression from their husbands during the first year of marriage reported increased stress and lower marital satisfaction at the first anniversary. Further, they were more likely to report separation from husbands due to marital problems during the first year of marriage. Experiences of partner physical aggression during the premarital period were associated with greater frequency of heavy drinking episodes among wives, although they were not associated with changes in average daily volume of ethanol consumed. Results suggest that among a community sample, experiences of husband-to-wife physical aggression have negative consequences for both women's psychological well-being and marital functioning.     

WHEN THE TIES THAT BIND UNWIND: EXAMINING THE ENDURING AND SITUATIONAL PROCESSES OF CHANGE BEHIND THE MARRIAGE EFFECT

Despite the continued growth of research demonstrating that marriage promotes desistance from crime, efforts aimed at understanding the mechanisms driving this effect are limited. Several theories propose to explain why we observe a reduction in offending after marriage including identity changes, strengthened attachments, reduced opportunities, and changes to routine activities. Although mechanisms are hard to measure, we argue that each proposed mechanism implies a specific change process, that is, whether the change that ensues after marriage is enduring (stable) or situational (temporary). Drawing on a medical model framework, we cast the role of marriage as a treatment condition and observe whether the effect of marriage is conditional on staying married or whether the effect persists when the “treatment” is taken away (i.e., divorce). We use 13 years of monthly level data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY97), a nationally representative sample containing close to 3,000 individuals with an arrest history, to examine changes in relationship status and arrest from adolescence into young adulthood. Estimates from multilevel within‐individual models reveal greater support for situational mechanisms in that divorce is detrimental particularly for those in longer marriages; yet they also reveal important caveats that suggest a closer examination of the marriage effect. This research adds to the growing body of knowledge regarding the marriage effect by redirecting desistance research away from asking if marriage matters to asking how marriage affects desistance. A better understanding of this change process has important implications for criminal justice policy.     

EXPLAINING THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN INCARCERATION AND DIVORCE

Recent studies have suggested that incarceration dramatically increases the odds of divorce, but we know little about the mechanisms that explain the association. This study uses prospective longitudinal data from a subset of married young adults in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N = 1,919) to examine whether incarceration is associated with divorce indirectly via low marital love, economic strain, relationship violence, and extramarital sex. The findings confirmed that incarcerations occurring during, but not before, a marriage were associated with an increased hazard of divorce. Incarcerations occurring during marriage also were associated with less marital love, more relationship violence, more economic strain, and greater odds of extramarital sex. Above‐average levels of economic strain were visible among respondents observed preincarceration, but only respondents observed postincarceration showed less marital love, more relationship violence, and higher odds of extramarital sex than did respondents who were not incarcerated during marriage. These relationship problems explained approximately 40 percent of the association between incarceration and marital dissolution. These findings are consistent with theoretical predictions that a spouse's incarceration alters the rewards and costs of the marriage and the relative attractiveness of alternative partners.     

Value orientations,life transitions,and desistance: Assessing competing perspectives

Laub and Sampson (2003) and Paternoster and Bushway (2009) offered opposing explanations of desistance from crime. Yet, extant research has failed to test the key theoretical differences that distinguish these perspectives: 1) the temporal ordering of internal changes in identity/values and life transitions and 2) the impact of values/life transitions on offending conditional on key predictors from the opposing theory (e.g., whether marriage contributes to desistance among individuals who already hold prosocial values). We assess competing claims using data from the Pathways to Desistance. We find that within-person changes in prosocial value orientations are significantly related to within-person changes in one's likelihood of entering into serious romantic relationships and becoming employed. Conversely, life transitions are unrelated to changes in one's values. The results derived from fixed-effects Poisson models indicate high or increasing prosocial value orientations help explain offending patterns among those who enter into serious romantic relationships/get employed and help explain changes in offending among those who do not experience structural “turning points.” Marriage/cohabitation is unrelated to within-person changes in offending, whereas the impact of employment has an inconsistent relationship. Theoretical and policy implications are discussed.     

The sex ratio and male-on-female intimate partner violence

Two divergent perspectives have been articulated in the literature regarding the effect that an unbalanced sex ratio is speculated to have on male-on-female intimate partner violence. Evolutionary psychology proffers that a high sex ratio (i.e., more men than women in the population) propagates competition among males for female mates. This competition for female mates is thought to engender sexual jealousy among men, which in turn results in male-on-female intimate partner violence. In contrast, the Guttentag and Secord thesis argues that a high sex ratio acts to attenuate rather than amplify male-on-female intimate partner violence because the relatively small number of women in the population makes them more highly valued and respected by men. Using data culled from the Federal Bureau of Investigation's National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) and the Census, we investigate the relationship between the sex ratio and male-on-female intimate partner violence. We define male-on-female intimate partner violence as violence occurring within a marriage or boyfriend/girlfriend type relationship. Multivariate regression results furnish evidence supporting evolutionary psychology by demonstrating that a high sex ratio increases male-on-female intimate partner violence. Results also show that male-on-female intimate partner violence is higher in cities where more women work. Such a finding further buttresses the logic associated with evolutionary psychology because participation in the workforce is theorized to afford a woman a greater opportunity to meet and interact with men other than her husband or boyfriend.