Written by: Signe Hald Andersen, Lars Højsgaard Andersen and Peer Ebbesen Skov

The analysis compares former male criminal offenders who marry with equivalent male offenders who remain single. There is a lower probability of those that marry falling back into criminal ways. However, the finding that marriage reduces criminality among men has a significant qualification. It only applies if the woman that the man marries has no criminal conviction. A marriage to a female offender has no effect on the likelihood of the man committing more crime.