Date of Award

Spring 2019

Degree Type

Capstone - Open Access

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

First Advisor

Alyssa Yetter


With approximately 2.3 million individuals incarcerated in the United States, important questions arise about the consequences of mass incarceration. Of particular concern is the impact on juveniles with one or both parents incarcerated, who are an especially disadvantaged group in society. They face unique challenges because of their parent's incarceration, and research documents this resulting in problems with health, education, and criminal behavior. The literature on intergenerational crime emphasizes the statistically significant rates of children following in their parent's footsteps of criminal behavior, with parental incarceration being an important risk factor. The purpose of my research is to explain the effects of parental incarceration on children’s delinquency. Informed by this research, I propose an intervention program for children of incarcerated parents in hopes to stop the cycle of criminal behavior.

Included in

Criminology Commons