Together despite the odds: Explaining racial and ethnic heterogeneity in union dissolution after incarceration

• Author: Alex O. Widdowson,Patricia Y. Warren,Sonja E. Siennick,Wade C. Jacobsen
• Published date: 01 February 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9125.12232
• Date: 01 February 2020

Received: 13 March 2018 Revised: 3 July 2019 Accepted: 7 August 2019

DOI: 10.1111/1745-9125.12232

ARTICLE

Together despite the odds: Explaining racial and

ethnic heterogeneity in union dissolution after

incarceration∗

Alex O. Widdowson1Wade C. Jacobsen2Sonja E. Siennick3

Patricia Y. Warren3

1University of Louisville

2University of Maryland—College Park

3Florida State University

Correspondence

AlexO. Widdowson, Department of Criminal

Justice,University of Louisville, 2301 South

ThirdStreet, Louisville, KY 40292.

Email:alex.widdowson@louisville.edu

∗Additionalsupporting information

canbe found in the full text tab for this

article in the WileyOnline Librar y at

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/

crim.2020.58.issue-1/issuetoc.

Anearlier draft of this article waspresented at

the 2016 PopulationAssociation of Amer ica

meetingin Washington, DC. We thank Kristin

Turney,ValarieKing, Jeremy Staff, Jason

Thomas,and Naomi Sugie for their insightful

feedbackon earlier versions. Wealso t hank

JodyMiller and t he anonymousreviewers for

their helpful comments. All remaininger rors

areour own.

Abstract

The U.S. incarceration rate rose dramatically over the

past 45 years, increasing the number of marriages and

cohabiting unions disrupted by a jail or prison stay. But as

some have pointed out, not all unions dissolveas a result of

incarceration, and there seems to be racial–ethnic variation

in this tendency, with Blacks displaying higher rates of

dissolution than Whites and Hispanics. Yet it is unclear

what explains racial–ethnic differences in union dissolution

among the incarcerated. Drawing on the National Longitu-

dinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97), we examine why

racial–ethnic differences in union dissolution exist among

a sample of individuals who had a marital or a cohabiting

union interrupted by an incarceration spell. In doing so,

we draw on social exchange theory and structural and

cultural theories to suggest that racial–ethnic disparities

in union dissolution are explained by differential exposure

to protective relationship characteristics. The results of

Cox hazard models reveal that Blacks have significantly

higher hazards of union dissolution than do Whites and

Hispanics. These results also indicate that being married,

having a child together, having full-time employment, a

longer union duration, and a shorter incarceration spell

Criminology. 2020;58:129–155. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/crim © 2019 American Society of Criminology 129

130 WIDDOWSON ET AL.

may protect against dissolution and that these factors

account, in part, for the greater risk of dissolution among

Blacks relative to Whites and Hispanics.

KEYWORDS

incarceration, race/ethnicity, relationship dissolution

The U.S. incarceration rate rose dramatically over the last three decades of the twentieth century,

increasing the number of families affected by the penal system. In 2014, 2.2 million individuals

were incarcerated in federal and state prisons or local jails (Kaeble, Glaze, Tsoutis, & Minton,

2015) and more than 600,000 inmates were released from these institutions (Carson, 2015; Minton

& Zheng, 2015). Underlying these aggregate statistics are enormous racial and ethnic disparities

showing that Black and Hispanic families are disproportionately affected by incarceration (Pettit &

Western, 2004; Western & Wildeman, 2009). Rising rates of incarceration led to a growing number

of disproportionately Black or Hispanic men and women whose romantic partnerships—more often

involving cohabitation than marriage—had been strained or severed by an incarceration.

Although a stay in jail or prison could provide an opportunity to rebuild ties with loved ones, prior

research findings most often reveal that incarceration is associated with an increased risk of marital

and cohabitation dissolution. This finding is consistent across large-scale longitudinal studies and

robust to methods aimed at addressing concerns with selection and unobserved heterogeneity (e.g.,

Apel, 2016; Apel, Blokland, Nieuwbeerta, & van Schellen, 2010; Lopoo & Western, 2005; Massoglia,

Remster, & King, 2011; Siennick, Stewart, & Staff, 2014; Turney, 2015; Turney & Wildeman,

2013). Furthermore, these findings show support for other findings indicating that incarceration

undermines union stability by stigmatizing individuals and their partners (Braman, 2004; Comfort,

2008), burdening the partner left behind both financially and emotionally (Western, 2006; Wildeman,

Schnittker, & Turney, 2012), and creating periods of physical separation that harm intimacy and

bonding between couples (Massoglia et al., 2011).

Nevertheless, not all marital and cohabiting unions dissolve when interrupted by incarceration.

Nearly half of all such unions remain intact for years afterward (Siennick et al., 2014; Turney, 2015).

Moreover, among couples that experience the incarceration of a partner, not all are at equal risk

of breaking up. Prior research findings indicate that unions among Blacks are more vulnerable to

the impact of incarceration compared with unions among other racial–ethnic groups. Using Fragile

Families data, Western (2006) examined the association between incarceration and the likelihood of

separation among couples who were in a cohabiting or a marital union at the time of their child’s birth.

The probabilities of separation 1 year later for incarcerated Black, Hispanic, and White men were 46

percent, 39 percent, and 34 percent, respectively. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth

1997, Apel (2016) found similar differences along racial and ethnic lines, extending up to 5 years

postincarceration. Yet it is unclear from either study what explains racial and ethnic heterogeneity in

union dissolution among the incarcerated.

In this study, we move beyond the question of whether incarceration affects marital and cohabiting

union dissolution to an examination of factors that help protect against dissolution among couples

experiencing a partner’s incarceration. In doing so, we suggest that disparities in union dissolution

among formerly incarcerated individuals are explained by differential exposure to protective rela-

tionship characteristics that lead some couples to stay together while others break up. As a result of