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48 Aust. & N.Z. J. Criminology 3 (2015)

handle is hein.journals/anzjc48 and id is 1 raw text is: ANZSOC Article Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology Does the birth of a first child 2015, Vol.48() 3-23 @ The Author(s) 2014 reduce the father's offending? Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.ul/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.I 177/0004865814537840 Delphine Theobald anj.sagepub.com Institute of Psychiatry, UK *SAGE David P Farrington University of Cambridge, UK Alex R Piquero University of Texas, Dallas, USA Abstract A little investigated correlate of persistence and desistance is the effect of parenthood. Research suggests that for females particularly, parenthood plays an important role but the evidence for males is mixed. Yet, prior studies have not considered potential selection effects. This paper seeks to overcome this limitation by examining the effects of having a child on offending using propensity score matching, with data from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development, a longitudinal study of 411 South London males followed since childhood. Findings indicate that, while there are reductions in offending from several years before the child's birth to several years after the child's birth, the effects are not large. Further analyses examining 'shotgun' marriages show that reductions in offending are larger than for non-'shotgun' marriages. Also, if a man remains with the child for at least five years, then reductions in convictions are greater than when he does not. Keywords Children, longitudinal, offending, propensity score matching Introduction The family is one of the most discussed influences on offending and many individual- level criminological theories have something, usually positive, to say about the import- ance of families in socializing children and in deterring antisocial behaviour (Agnew, 1992; Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990; Hirschi, 1995; Moffitt, 1993; Patterson et al., 1989). Not surprisingly, family effects have long been empirically examined in the crimino- logical literature (Loeber & Stouthamer-Loeber, 1986), with the most recent attention devoted to the effects of marriage on patterns of desistance largely on the heels of the Corresponding author: Delphine Theobald, King's College, Institute of Psychiatry, London SE5 8AF Email: delphine.theobald@kcl.ac.uk

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