DOI: 10.3886/icpsr34687.v1
title: Immigration, Marriage and Desistance from Crime, 1997-2009 [United States]
title: Version 1

description: These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed. This study is an analysis of 13 waves of data retrieved from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 survey (NLSY97) in order to examine the influence of marriage on immigrant offending trajectories from adolescence to young adulthood. There were three specific research questions considered: Are second generation immigrants entering into marriage at a slower pace than their first generation immigrant peers?; What role does marriage play in understanding immigrant offending?; Is the relationship between marriage and offending affected by immigrant generation or country/region of birth (i.e., nativity)? ; Distributed here is the code used for the secondary analysis and the code to compile the datasets.
description: The purpose of this study is to examine to what extent marriage is related to criminal offending behavior among first and second generation immigrants.
description: Researchers utilized 13 waves of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 survey (NLSY97), a representative sample of people living in the U.S. who were 12 to 16 years of age during the initial survey round in 1997. A two-step process for analysis was used. Researchers examined trends in marriage across immigrant and native-born groups to assess whether, on average, second generation immigrants were marrying at different rates compared to their first generation immigrant peers. To do so, they plotted the percentage of youth in each immigrant and native-born subsample married in each wave over the course of the study.; Researchers used a longitudinal regression modeling strategy to assess changes in the prevalence and frequency of arrest as individuals make relationship transitions (i.e., get married). ;
description: This study contains one SPSS data set that is a compilation of variables retrieved from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 survey (NLSY97). It contains 8,984 cases and 70 variables. The variables include topics such as demographic information, home life, family income, perceived quality of life, delinquent behavior and arrests, and marriage status. The SPSS syntax file used by researchers for this project will be released in order to create the dataset used in this study.
description: Users should consult the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97) for weighting information.
description: Presence of Common Scales: Users should consult the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97) for scales information.
description: Response Rates: Users should consult the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97) for response rate information.
description: Datasets: 
 
 DS1: Dataset
description: These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.
The syntax file being distributed can be used to alter and analyze a data file. In order to do so users must first construct an initial data set created out of both publicly available variables from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97) from the Bureau of Labor Statistics website (http://www.bls.gov/nls/nlsy97.htm) and restricted variables from the NLYS97 Geocode file of the same study. Users can apply for access to the NLYS97 Geocode data at http://www.bls.gov/nls/nlsy97.htm.
description: Youth living in the United States aged 12 to 16 years of age during the initial survey round in 1997. Smallest Geographic Unit: United States
description: For sampling information please refer to The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97).