Abstract Female offending behaviours are a complex public health issue associated with significant economic and social costs. The criminal careers of offending females have been studied to a lesser extent than those of offending males. This study thus sought to systematically review the literature on female offending trajectories. Twenty-six studies in 7 countries over 3 decades were identified (approximately N = 92,023 individuals with offending behaviours [although some cohorts may have been reported in more than one publication]; reported median of 16.5 years of follow-up). Early-onset desistant, adolescent-limited (AL), low and medium-rate chronic, life-course persistent (LCP), late-onset and sporadic groups were all identified. Although trajectory investigations in female-only samples typically identified fewer trajectories than in mixed-gender/sex samples, the trajectories identified were similar. Contrary to Moffitt’s original theory, there was evidence that LCP female trajectories did exist, representing between 0.4 and 23.4% of female offenders. The societal cost of persistent offending is significant, due to the intergenerational impact associated with women’s involvement in the criminal justice system. Identifying the main offending trajectories amongst female offenders allows us to tailor interventions for groups based on specific patterns and risk-periods. Limitations of the extant evidence base include limited follow up times, small sample sizes and limited global coverage.

Abstract Despite extensive research on desistance, there remains limited understanding of how imprisoned individuals achieve successful reintegration. This study aims to advance insight on this topic by contributing to the special issue on Longitudinal and Developmental of Criminal Justice Interventions and Reintegration . For this purpose, we selected a heterogeneous sample of individuals who, after imprisonment, were serving their sentences on open regime or conditional release with a positive evolution in two locations in Spain (Barcelona and Madrid). The qualitative analysis of the 60 interviews shows that reintegration started in prison when individuals developed important cognitive transformations —such as assuming responsibility for their offences and developing a prosocial identity— and continued while in open regime or conditional release. In this latter phase, the combination of support and control enabled the reestablishment of social bonds, which in turn prevented reoffending. Consequently, this work suggests an integrative theoretical framework to understand the continuity of the reintegration process from prison to conditional release. In this sequence, rational choice and cognitive transformation theories are more relevant during imprisonment, and informal social control in the life course is more explanatory during transitional release.

While the literature on criminal recidivism has extensively documented the role of independent risk factors, little is known about how these risk factors may co-occur to produce a cumulative effect. Such information would enhance understanding and be valuable for informing policy and programming. The current study uses data from a large sample of released violent offenders (N = 38,097) to explore how two distinct cumulative risk indices, comprised of psychological and social risk factors, work to influence common recidivism patterns. Results across two multivariate modeling strategies consistently reveal linkages between the psychological and social indices and recidivism risk. Implications for research and practice are considered.

This study aims to explain heterogeneity in offending trajectories by examining its association with exposure to combinations of risk (or the lack thereof) across multiple life domains. Drawing on survey data and administrative crime records from the Dutch Childhood Arrestees Study, we examined the relationship between distinct risk profiles and offending trajectories in a sample of 348 children with a first police contact before age 12 (87% male, Mage a first contact = 10.63, SD = 1.48), who were followed from age 12 to 20. Alongside an a priori defined group of non-recidivists (55%), the trajectory analysis yielded four distinct offending patterns: low-rate desisting (14%), low-rate persisting (18%), high-rate desisting (5%), and high-rate persisting (8%). Using latent profile analysis, we constructed three distinct risk profiles based on individual, familial, peer, school, and neighborhood characteristics: low-problem (31%), cognitive- and neighborhood-problem (48%), and multi-problem (21%) profiles. Multinomial regression analyses showed that children with a low-problem profile were the least likely to persist in offending throughout the follow-up period. In comparison to low-problem children, those with a multi-problem profile were more likely to follow the low-rate persistent trajectory, whereas children exposed to cognitive and neighborhood problems were more likely to follow the high-rate persistent trajectory. The findings underscore the value of accounting for risk exposure across multiple life domains to explain variations in longitudinal offending patterns.

Abstract Prior research has identified that being the victim of a violent crime is associated with depression and several other mental disorders. However, these studies have relied on cross-sectional research designs that can overestimate effect sizes due to confounding or selection bias. Thus, it is unclear whether victimization itself causes a person to experience depression or whether it is caused by a third variable that causes victimization and depression, such as low self-control or offending. The purpose of this study is to address this theoretical and methodological issue by assessing whether victimization experiences involving a weapon have a causal impact on experiencing depression in adolescents using an innovative causal inference research design. The data for this study come from three waves of the restricted version of the National Study of Adolescent to Adult Health ( N = 46,249). This study uses a linear fixed effects regression model with individual slopes to determine whether different types of weapon-based victimization have a causal effect on experiencing depression. In addition, this study uses two novel sensitivity analyses to determine the robustness of the estimates to confounding and selection bias. The results found that individuals who experienced multiple types of weapon-based victimization had increased symptoms of depression even after accounting for the role of low self-control and offending. However, additional sensitivity analyses revealed that this relationship is not robust to confounding and selection bias from omitted variables. Future research should use other causal inference research designs to determine whether victimization has a causal impact on depression and other mental disorders.

Abstract A recent National Academy of Sciences report emphasizes myriad shortcomings of traditional indicators of success after prison. A key criticism concerns the reliance on a binary measure of recidivism, which imposes a static conceptualization of behavioral change and ignores positive growth in other life domains. Using an indicator of “failure” (i.e., recidivism) as the metric of “success” is not only inconsistent with the realities of desisting from offending, which involves a gradual process of moving away from crime, but it also ignores evidence of incremental successes in other dimensions of the life course. Research has been empirically hindered in accounting for co-occurring processes involving transitioning away from criminal and into conventional pursuits. In this study, we leverage an innovative analytic strategy, group-based multiple trajectory modeling, to measure (1) the complexity involved in the process of reintegration and (2) the interrelationships between multiple life course domains when determining success. Using the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative ( SVORI ), we ask “What does post-release success across several life course domains look like in this sample?” And “Is there an overlap across metrics of success and failure?” We discuss how the patterns we observe relate to typical metrics of recidivism and offending trajectories. Findings provide timely evidence on the nuanced nature of reintegration, informing desistance theory and reintegration practice and policy.