Does Marriage Reduce Crime? a Counterfactual Approach to Within-Individual Causal Effects.
Sampson, R. J., Laub, J. H., & Wimer, C. (2006). Does marriage reduce crime? A counterfactual approach to within-individual causal effects. Criminology, 44, 465-508.
This research was a study to see that men that are married are less likely to commit crimes or be unemployed then unmarried men (Sampson, 2006). They took 500 men who were young in the 1940’s and followed them through the age of 32. Then they checked on them 35 years later at around the age 70 with crime and death records of these men. Then they tracked 52 of these men that had different types of criminal records in their adulthood. They interview them to see the changes in life like marriage or incarceration.
There had been numerous studies to see if married men had lower crime then unmarried men. Quite a few men that stated that “If I hadn’t met my wife at the times I did, I’d probably be dead. It just changed my whole life… that’s my turning point.” (Sampson, 2006) There were a change in their criminal behavior due to the attachment with marriage. Another reason marriage leads to a more routine type of lifestyle then unmarried men. The third theory was really for more of the 1950s and 60s lifestyle wher ethe wives would limit the nights that they could “hang with the guys” (Sampson, 2006).
They collected a lot of data from a long term follow up of the original subjects that were studied by Glueck and Gluek in Unraveling Juvenile Delinquency (1959) (Sampson, 2006). They had 500 males and they were of the age of 10-17 that were delinquents and the same amount of nondelinquents and they were matched on their age, ethnicity, IQ and low-income (Sampson, 2006). They interviewed them at ages 14, 25, and 32 years old. They were born between 1924 to 1932 and in central Boston. Then Sampson et al. did a follow up study in 1994 when the oldest was 70 and the youngest was 61. They had to find the subjects and conduct the interviews with them. Once they set aside them men that had passed
This research was a study to see that men that are married are less likely to commit crimes or be unemployed then unmarried men (Sampson, 2006). They took 500 men who were young in the 1940’s and followed them through the age of 32. Then they checked on them 35 years later at around the age 70 with crime and death records of these men. Then they tracked 52 of these men that had different types of criminal records in their adulthood. They interview them to see the changes in life like marriage or incarceration.
There had been numerous studies to see if married men had lower crime then unmarried men. Quite a few men that stated that “If I hadn’t met my wife at the times I did, I’d probably be dead. It just changed my whole life… that’s my turning point.” (Sampson, 2006) There were a change in their criminal behavior due to the attachment with marriage. Another reason marriage leads to a more routine type of lifestyle then unmarried men. The third theory was really for more of the 1950s and 60s lifestyle wher ethe wives would limit the nights that they could “hang with the guys” (Sampson, 2006).
They collected a lot of data from a long term follow up of the original subjects that were studied by Glueck and Gluek in Unraveling Juvenile Delinquency (1959) (Sampson, 2006). They had 500 males and they were of the age of 10-17 that were delinquents and the same amount of nondelinquents and they were matched on their age, ethnicity, IQ and low-income (Sampson, 2006). They interviewed them at ages 14, 25, and 32 years old. They were born between 1924 to 1932 and in central Boston. Then Sampson et al. did a follow up study in 1994 when the oldest was 70 and the youngest was 61. They had to find the subjects and conduct the interviews with them. Once they set aside them men that had passed
Cited: Sampson, R. J. (2006). Does marriage reduce crime? A counterfactual approach to within-individual causal effects. Criminology, 465-508.