Unsuccessful life style in middle-aged official and self-reported types of offenders

Abstract

PurposeThis research investigates how types of convicted offenders (C-types: life-course-persistent; adolescence-limited; late-onset; non-offenders) compare with the corresponding types of self-reported offenders (SR-types: SR-LCP; SR-AL; SR-LO; SR-NO) in life adjustment. MethodsIn the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development, 411 London males have been followed up from age 8 to age 48 in face-to-face interviews, and from age 8 to 61 in criminal records. This article focuses on the unsuccessful life style scale based on interviews at ages 32 and 48. ResultsBoth convicted and self-reported offenders manifested a more unsuccessful life style in comparison with C-NO and SR-NO. Physical fights, and high alcohol and drug abuse featured in the lives of C-LCP and C-AL at age 32, and in the lives of all C-type offenders at age 48. SR-LCP and SR-AL reported higher levels of alcohol and drug use in comparison with SR-NO, while SR-LO reported a higher level of drug use. ConclusionsCriminality is one aspect, and not the most important one, that impinges upon the quality of life. Other dimensions contribute to altering life-adjustment. Addressing these issues might promote an improvement in the quality of life in adult offenders, and foster criminal desistance.