Garrett Baker Receives First Prize from American Society of Criminology for Research On The Impact of Paternal Incarceration On Children's Aspirations

Sanford PhD student Garrett Baker received First Prize in the Gene Carte Student Paper Competition by the American Society of Criminology (ASC) for his paper, "Shattered Dreams: Paternal Incarceration, Youth Expectations, and the Intergenerational Transmission of Disadvantage." The paper is also forthcoming in

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Sociological Science.  

In the research, Barker utilizes Add Health’s retrospective paternal incarceration questions to develop an analytic strategy to examine how children’s expectations and aspirations are shaped by adverse events. Barker’s paper details how paternal incarceration is associated with lower youth expectations and aspirations. Given that paternal incarceration is both common and disproportionately experienced by disadvantaged youth, the large magnitude and robust nature of these results reveal an important pathway through which mass incarceration has contributed to the intergenerational transmission of inequality in the U.S. in recent decades. 

Barker’s previous works focus on how families and systems of social control increase inequality. Currently, Barker is working on projects that analyze family member incarceration, the child welfare system, and the intergenerational transmission of (dis)advantage.  

On November 15th , the ASC will celebrate his achievement at the Award Ceremony at the upcoming ASC meeting in Philadelphia.