Objective: The purpose of this article is to examine the relationship between mother-youth closeness and stigma stemming from police contact.
Background: Research increasingly indicates that stigma stemming from police-youth encounters links police contact to compromised outcomes among youth, though less is known about the correlates of stigma stemming from this criminal legal contact. Close mother-youth relationships, commonly understood to be protective for youth outcomes, may be one factor that buffers against stop-related stigma, especially the anticipation of stigma.
Method: We use data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a sample of youth born in urban areas around the turn of the 21st century, to examine the relationship between mother-youth closeness and stop-related stigma.
Results: We find that mother-youth closeness is negatively associated with stop-related anticipated stigma but not stop-related experienced stigma. We also find that the relationship between mother-youth closeness and stop-related anticipated stigma is concentrated among youth experiencing a non-intrusive stop.
Conclusion: Close mother-youth relationships may protect against stigma stemming from criminal legal contact.
Keywords: criminal justice system; inequalities; intergenerational relationships; parent-child relationships.