Charged with Instability: Are Paternal Arrests and Criminal Charges Enough to Shake the Marital Stability of American Couples?

Abstract

With the growing rate of divorce, increasing efforts are being made to identify the factors that contribute to relationship dissolution for many American couples. One commonly noted, and particularly concerning, factor toward relationship instability is the incarceration of husbands and fathers. Although paternal incarceration and familial stability have been studied, little is known about the relationship between criminal charges and divorce. The current study utilized data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to understand the effect of paternal criminal charges on divorce for 725 families. Utilizing a logistic regression and two-stage least squares linear probability model, results show that, even without incarceration, being charged with a crime as a husband significantly increases the likelihood that a couple will get divorced. These findings have significant implications for understanding how encounters with the criminal justice system affect familial well-being and stability.

Amor entre as grades: revisão sistemática sobre a conjugalidade no contexto do encarceramento

“…Também Siennick et al (2014) salientaram que, embora os efeitos prejudiciais do encarceramento possam se intensificar à medida que a duração da pena aumenta, esta não precisa ser longa para favorecer à dissolução conjugal. Além disso, Skipper et al (2020) evidenciaram que mesmo entre homens que não foram encarcerados, o fato de terem sido acusados de um crime aumentou a probabilidade de divórcio entre os casais.…”

“…Esse atravessamento se dá de diversas formas, seja na interlocução da família com o indivíduo preso, através das visitas, entrega de mantimentos, e na atenção ao processo penal do mesmo (Guimarães et al, 2006), ou, ainda, a partir dos impactos vivenciados pela família através da prisão. A esse respeito, a literatura tem evidenciado que as famílias de apenados vivenciam aumento da pobreza e da vulnerabilidade social (Skipper et al, 2020), estigmatização, discriminação e preconceito (Delefrati & Novaes, 2016;Massoglia et al, 2011), pouca rede de apoio social, além de problemáticas de saúde mental (Tadros & Finney, 2018). Assim, pode-se pensar nas intersecções entre o dentro e o fora das prisões (Lago, 2019), visto que estes espaços se coadunam e se coproduzem, reverberando tanto nas vivências dos presos, quanto nas de suas famílias.…”

“Not for the Weak”: The Lived Experience of Women in Romantic Relationships With Incarcerated Individuals

“…Additionally, for those incarcerated who also experience mental illness, the impact of their mental illness on the relationship can be detrimental (Mulvey et al, 2020). The likelihood of divorce also increases significantly when a husband is arrested for a crime and ultimately incarcerated (Skipper et al, 2020). Further, navigating a romantic relationship may add a layer of stress to the re-entry process, as individuals are trying to balance finding employment, housing, and entering back into a relationship with a different dynamic (Wallace et al, 2020).…”