Dr. Krohn’s primary research focus is on antisocial behavior, especially the causes of adolescent delinquency and the consequences of that behavior for future life chances. He has played a central role the Rochester Youth Development Study (RYDS) since its inception. During the last 36 months, he has published several journal articles based on the RYDS data to explore the intergenerational transmission and early roots of antisocial behavior. In a 2006 paper in the Journal of Drug Issues, Krohn and collaborators find an intergenerational band of transmission from grandmother and mother to daughter in the early onset of drug use; the lack of a similar finding for sons could be due to the absence of many fathers from the household. A second paper, appearing in the Journal of Family Issues and written collaboratively with associate Carolyn Smith, addresses the involvement of African-American fathers with their first child. Results suggest that African American fathers do not differ significantly from other young fathers in their contact with and support provided to their eldest biological child. For African American fathers, fulfilling a father role is, as hypothesized, related to the success of transition to adult roles and relationships and to prosocial behavior and problem behavior. The third article, in the Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, tests labeling theory as applied to adolescents with and without early entanglement with the juvenile justice system. Krohn and his collaborators specifically examine whether involvement in deviant social groups mediates the relationship between juvenile justice intervention and subsequent delinquent behavior. Drawing on measures from three successive time points in RYDS, they find that juvenile justice intervention increases subsequent involvement in serious delinquency through the medium of involvement in deviant social groups, namely, street gangs and delinquent peers. The significance of this research lies in its uncovering of a mechanism by which official labeling produces impacts on future delinquency and deterioration in life chances.
Krohn has been the Principal Investigator and Co-Principal Investigator on multiple research grants from the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. These grants have allowed for the follow-up study of the original RYDS sample and for the intergenerational component of RYDS.
Work
in progress and pending/planned research projects.
Krohn will continue to work on the two continuing aspects of the RYDS. Following the original RYDS sample to the ages of 28 and 30 will allow for a continuing examination of demographically relevant issues such as family formation and dissolution and childbearing. The focus will be on the relationship between participation in antisocial behavior and the transition to adult roles. In addition, the intergenerational study will allow for an exploration of the myriad of issues relevant to the rearing of children and the effect of parental antisocial behavior on their children’s behavior.
Krohn contributes to the overall population research program with his focus on antisocial behavior through the life course and the intergenerational link between such behavior and core demographic processes such as marriage and parenthood.
Because of the expertise of CSDA staff in the maintenance of confidential data, all of the RYDS data are kept on the Center’s UNIX system; and the work of reassembling the data when new waves are collected is performed there. In addition to taking advantage of the Center’s computing infrastructure, Krohn has relied on CSDA for statistical expertise.