Search Results

Author: DeMarco, Laura
Resulting in 3 citations.
1. DeMarco, Laura
Dwyer, Rachel E.
Haynie, Dana L.
The Accumulation of Disadvantage: Criminal Justice Contact, Credit, and Debt in the Transition to Adulthood
Criminology published online (19 August 2021): DOI: 10.1111/1745-9125.12286.
Also: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1745-9125.12286
Cohort(s): NLSY97
Publisher: American Society of Criminology
Keyword(s): Credit/Credit Constraint; Criminal Justice System; Debt/Borrowing; Disadvantaged, Economically; Transition, Adulthood

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Social exclusion of those with criminal justice experience increasingly includes a financial component, but the structure of disadvantage in credit and debt remains unclear. We develop a model of financial disadvantage in debt holding during the transition to adulthood among justice-involved groups. We study cumulative criminal justice contact and debt holding by age 30 using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97). The NLSY97 cohort transitioned to adulthood during an era of historically high criminal justice contact, with many experiencing arrests, convictions, and incarceration. We develop a distinct measurement approach to cumulative criminal justice contact by age 30 that captures variation between young adults in the severity of justice encounters in the early life course. We conceptualize financial disadvantage as a lower likelihood of holding debt that facilitates property and attainment investments and a higher likelihood of holding higher cost debts used for consumption or emergencies. We find that those with the most punitive criminal justice contact evidence the most disadvantageous form of debt holding, potentially exacerbating social exclusion. We consider the implications of the accumulation of financial disadvantage for our understanding of criminal justice contact as a life-course process.
Bibliography Citation
DeMarco, Laura, Rachel E. Dwyer and Dana L. Haynie. "The Accumulation of Disadvantage: Criminal Justice Contact, Credit, and Debt in the Transition to Adulthood." Criminology published online (19 August 2021): DOI: 10.1111/1745-9125.12286.
2. Porter, Lauren C.
DeMarco, Laura
Beyond the Dichotomy: Exposure to Incarceration and Depressive Symptoms
Presented: Montreal, QC, American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, August 2017
Cohort(s): NLSY97
Publisher: American Sociological Association
Keyword(s): Depression (see also CESD); Incarceration/Jail; Modeling, Fixed Effects

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

A growing body of research suggests that incarceration is detrimental for both physical and mental health. However, this literature tends to adopt a view of incarceration as a status rather than an experience or episode. That is, incarceration is typically conceptualized and operationalized as a dichotomy: individuals either have, or have not, been incarcerated. Considering that incarceration can range from one day to several years, a dichotomous measure may be overlooking important variations across lengths of exposure. This study helps to fill this gap by examining the relationship between exposure to incarceration, measured as time served and number of spells, and depressive symptoms among a sample of young adults from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1997. Using a fixed effects approach, we find that depressive symptoms increase with number of months and number of spells incarcerated, however this relationship does not appear salient when limiting the sample to former inmates only. Additionally, among current inmates the number of months incarcerated is associated with lower levels of depression, suggesting a possible adaptation to prison after a period of time.
Bibliography Citation
Porter, Lauren C. and Laura DeMarco. "Beyond the Dichotomy: Exposure to Incarceration and Depressive Symptoms." Presented: Montreal, QC, American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, August 2017.
3. Porter, Lauren C.
DeMarco, Laura
Beyond the Dichotomy: Incarceration Dosage and Mental Health
Criminology 57,1 (February 2019): 136-156.
Also: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1745-9125.12199
Cohort(s): NLSY97
Publisher: American Society of Criminology
Keyword(s): Depression (see also CESD); Health, Mental/Psychological; Incarceration/Jail; Modeling, Fixed Effects

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

The findings from a growing body of research reveal that incarceration is detrimental for both physical and mental health. Incarceration, however, is typically conceptualized and operationalized as a dichotomy; individuals either have, or have not, been incarcerated. Considering that incarceration can range from one day to several years, a dichotomous measure may be overlooking important variations across lengths of exposure. In addition, most inmates are incarcerated more than once. In this study, we help to fill this gap by examining the relationship between incarceration dosage, measured as time served and number of spells, and mental health among a sample of young adults from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1997. By using fixed‐effects modeling, we find that the number of spells and the months incarcerated are positively related to mental health symptoms and the likelihood of depression. The association, however, is contingent on whether a respondent is currently or formerly incarcerated. Among current inmates, more time served is expected to improve mental health and the number of spells is unrelated to either outcome.
Bibliography Citation
Porter, Lauren C. and Laura DeMarco. "Beyond the Dichotomy: Incarceration Dosage and Mental Health." Criminology 57,1 (February 2019): 136-156.