DEVELOPMENTAL PATTERNS OF ALCOHOL USE IN RELATION TO THE PERSISTENCE AND DESISTANCE OF SERIOUS VIOLENT OFFENDING AMONG AFRICAN AMERICAN AND CAUCASIAN YOUNG MEN*

Abstract

This study examined the association of alcohol use with persistence and desistance of serious violent offending among African American and Caucasian young men from adolescence into emerging adulthood. Five violence groups were defined: nonviolent, late-onsetters, desisters, persisters, and one-time offenders. We examined alcohol use trajectories for these groups from ages 12 through 24/25 using a four-piecewise linear growth model (ages 12-14, 14-18, 18-21, and 21-24/25). The persisters and desisters reported the highest levels of drinking at age 13. From ages 14 through 18, however, the late-onsetters showed a higher rate of increase in drinking, compared to the persisters and desisters. Starting from age 18, the desisters' drinking trajectory started to resemble that of the nonviolent group, who showed the highest rate of increase in drinking during emerging adulthood. By age 24/25 the persisters could not be distinguished from the late-onsetters; but were lower than the nonviolent and one-timer groups in terms of their drinking. At age 24/25, the desisters were not significantly different from the other violence groups, although they appeared most similar to the nonviolent and one-timer groups. There was no evidence that the association between drinking and violence differed for African Americans and Caucasians. The findings suggest that yearly changes in alcohol use could provide important clues for preventing violent offending.