Criminal Careers Research Articles

The Duration of Criminal Careers: How Many Offenders Do Not Desist up to Age 61?

The main aim of this article is to investigate the duration of criminal careers, to assess how many offenders desist from offending (i.e., terminate offending) up to age 61. The Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development is a prospective longitudinal survey of 411 London males originally studied at age 8 in 1961. Their criminal records have been searched repeatedly up to age 61, and their self-reported offending was measured up to age 48, when 93% of males were interviewed. Forty-four percent of males were convicted, and many criminal careers were very long; 26% of convicted males had a duration of 20 years or more. The probability of being reconvicted was substantial even after a gap of 10 (20%) or 15 years (19%) after the previous conviction, but it was only 8% after a 30-year gap and only 6% after a 40-year gap. Offenders who had been conviction-free for 30 or more years since their last conviction had a similar self-reported offending score to non-offenders at age 48. It seems likely that those offenders (49%) who had been conviction-free for 30 or more years had truly desisted. In contrast, those offenders who were conviction-free for less than 10 years (22%) probably had not desisted up to age 61. Desistance is more uncertain for the remainder of the offenders.

PROBATION: A HINDER OR A HELPER TO REHABILITATION AND DESISTANCE FROM CRIME?

Considering the rise of community sanctions and measures in the criminal justice system, as well as the relevance of understanding the process of desistance from crime and rehabilitation, this study will demonstrate how probation can help individuals to stop offending and what are the obstacles to be tackled. Through researches and studies’ findings of Sue Rex, Shadd Maruna, Stephen Farral, Fergus McNeill and Deirdre Healy, probation’s role will be critically assessed in terms of quitting a criminal career and reinserting in society.

Desistance Across the Life Course: Editorial Introduction

Often marginalised when compared against other key points of focus for criminal career research, interest in desistance as a priority for both research and theorising has arguably come of age. Less than two decades ago, researchers decried the disproportionate focus on key aspects of offending (e.g. recidivism), and dimensions of criminal careers (e.g. onset, persistence, escalation) in making the point that further research and theorising on desistance was required [2]. The response to and production of this special issue on desistance across the life course is a tangible illustration that research interests on desistance have strengthened over time.

Criminal Responsibility and the System of Sanctioning Juvenile Offenders in the Czech Republic and Hungary

Abstract The criminal responsibility and the system of sanctioning juvenile offenders is one of fundamental criminal law issues. Individuals who start a criminal career early on are usually not easy to reintegrate into normal life. That is one reason why it is neces­sary to discuss the problem of juvenile justice in depth. The legal literature in the Czech Republic is devoted to this topic on a large scale, however Hungarian legislation has not yet been analysed fo purposes of comparation. The Czech Republic and Hungary fall under the United Nations categorization to Eastern Europe and therefore certain similar features can be assumed. On the other hand any identified differences may be the basis for future changes of the legislation.

The homicide circumplex: a new conceptual model and empirical examination

PurposeHomicide is the most severe form of crime and one that imposes the greatest societal costs. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the homicide circumplex, a set of traits, behaviors, psychological and psychiatric features that are associated with greater homicidal ideation, homicidal social cognitive biases, homicide offending and victimization, and psychopathology that is facilitative of homicide.Design/methodology/approachUsing the data from a near population of federal supervised release offenders from the Midwestern USA, ANOVA, multinomial logistic, Poisson and negative binomial regression models were developed.FindingsGreater homicidal ideation is associated with homicide offending, attempted homicide offending and attempted homicide victimization and predicted by gang activity, alias usage, antisocial personality disorder and intermittent explosive disorder. These behavioral disorders, more extensive criminal careers, African American status and gang activity also exhibited significant associations with dimensions of the homicide circumplex.Originality/valueDeveloping behavioral profiles of offenders that exhibit homicidal ideation and behaviors are critical for identifying clients at greatest risk for lethal violence. The homicide circumplex is an innovation toward the goal that requires additional empirical validation.

THE ROLE OF FATHERS IN THE CRIMINAL CAREERS OF JUVENILES IN ITALY

Abstract:The purpose of this study is to estimate whether fathers involved in the criminal justice system contribute toward determining their children’s criminal activities. We use a unique dataset for Italy, which follows the antisocial behavior of a representative cohort of young criminals aged 14 to 24. Our correlation estimates indicate that fathers involved in criminal activities predict significant recidivism rates by their children. When the transmission mechanisms of fathers were proxied to include a set of observable individual and family variables, our regression estimates showed that almost half the father–child correlation is not explained by the controls. More importantly, estimating the father–child association restricting to fathers in prison, we find that this correlation is significantly large for “theft and drugs,” which suggests that this forced absence acts as a potential determinant of children’s criminal careers.

Parent Exposure to Drugs: A “New” Adverse Childhood Experience With Devastating Behavioral Consequences

Household drug abuse is one of the seminal forms of adverse childhood experiences, but it does not fully capture the severity of parents that actively provide or even administer drugs to their children. Drawing on a near population of federal supervised release offenders, the current study examined this “new” adverse childhood experience and its association with antisociality. Multiple analytical techniques (e.g., correlation, binary and multinomial logistic regression, and negative binomial regression) indicated that parent exposure to drugs was significantly associated with current drug status while on supervision, three forms of drug offending, and Cannabis, Cocaine, Methamphetamine, Opiate, and Alcohol Dependence even while controlling for age of arrest onset, sex, race, and current age. We concur with other scholars that more conceptualization and measurement-refinement of adverse childhood experiences is needed to fully understand how early-life trauma shapes the contours of the criminal career.

Examining Racial and Ethnic Variations in Reasons for Leaving a Youth Gang

One underrepresented area of research within the developmental and life course framework is how criminal careers vary across racial and ethnic lines. Similarly, little is known about how the processes surrounding leaving a youth gang differ based on the experiences of racial and ethnic minorities. This manuscript will help fill this gap in both bodies of literature by examining differences in push and pull motivations for gang desistance across black, Hispanic, and white youth who reside in seven different cities across the USA. The mixed-method analysis relies on grounded theory techniques to identify themes in the qualitative interviews as well as provides a quantitative comparison of gang desistance motivations. Black youth were least likely to report pulls associated with prosocial attachments and were also least likely to report being disillusioned with intragang relationships. Hispanic youth most commonly reported pulls associated with parental encouragement and experiencing official sanctions and pushes centered on direct and vicarious violent experiences. White youth most commonly reported pulls associated with having a significant other and pushes including feelings of disillusionment with intragang relationships. While there is evidence that street socialization and social isolation uniquely impact the gang desistance decisions of black gang youth, these differences might not be enough to justify race-specific intervention programs.

Desistance from and persistence in male offending: The case of South Korea

In the first of its kind published in English, this study of desistance among male offenders in South Korea addresses the knowledge deficit regarding criminal career-based research from non-Western societies. Using arrest records from 1998 to 2009, 3102 criminal careers are traced from adolescence into adulthood. Each offender is classified either a ‘desister’ (74.1%), a ‘potential-desister’ (19.2%) or a ‘persister’ (6.7%). The delinquent histories of eighty-three detainees were surveyed to identify the effect home, employment, and/or friendship stability had upon desistance. Logistic regression analysis found friendship stability had the greatest effect. The study also compares the 6.7% persisters to the ‘chronic 6%’ and ‘severe 5%’ identified by Western-based studies. In response to Moffitt's ‘temporary vs. persistent dual taxonomy’ an alternative ‘desistant vs. persistent tripartite taxonomy’ is proposed. Based upon the findings, and practical experience, several policy suggestions rooted in Laub and Sampson's ‘situated choice’ view of desistance are proffered.

Forensic epidemiology: Harnessing the power of public DNA sources to capture career criminals

Forensic epidemiology: Harnessing the power of public DNA sources to capture career criminals

Contagious Criminal Career Models Showing Backward Bifurcations: Implications for Crime Control Policies

We provide a theoretical framework to study how criminal behaviors can be treated as an infectious phenomenon. There are two infectious diseases like models that mimic the role of convicted criminals in contaminating individuals not yet engaged in the criminal career. Equilibrium analyses of each model are studied in detail. The models proposed in this work include the social, economic, personal, and pressure from peers aspects that can, theoretically, determine the probability with which a susceptible individual with criminal propensity engages in a criminal career. These crime-inducing parameters are treated mathematically and their inclusion in the model aims to help policy-makers design crime control strategies. We propose, to the best of our knowledge by the first time in quantitative criminology, the existence of thresholds for the stability of crime-endemic equilibrium which are the equivalent to the “basic reproduction number” widely used in the mathematical epidemiology literature. Both models presented the phenomena of backward bifurcation and breaking-point when the contact rates are chosen as bifurcation parameters. The finding of backward bifurcation in both models implies that there is an endemic equilibrium of criminality even when the threshold parameter for contagion is below unit, which, in turn, implies that control strategies are more difficult to achieve considerable impact on crime control.

Restorative justice for delinquents in Hong Kong: current practices and challenges

ABSTRACTIn Hong Kong, juvenile justice embraces mainly disciplinary welfare and rehabilitative philosophies. Various statutory measures are applied to juvenile offenders, including police cautioning, community-based treatment programmes and custodial sentencing options. However, no statutory restorative measure has yet been incorporated into the mainstream criminal justice system in Hong Kong. Several non-governmental organisations are developing innovative strategies to prevent problematic adolescents from slipping into delinquency and are willing to apply restorative practices to help delinquents desist from engaging in criminal careers. This study begins with main features of restorative justice, and it highlights the preventive and correctional services for delinquents in Hong Kong. The study also questions the explanations offered by the government for not implementing restorative justice. By comparing restorative options for juveniles in some Asian jurisdictions, the study advocates for an earlier introduction of restorative justice for the benefits of juvenile offenders.

Risk Factors and Pathways to Imprisonment among Incarcerated Women in Victoria, 1860–1920

ABSTRACTCriminological studies have found that men’s and women’s pathways to imprisonment differ, with risk factors such as substance abuse, mental illness, socioeconomic circumstances and past victimisation more strongly associated with female prisoners. However, limited quantitative or longitudinal research exists on how the risk factors associated with female offending may have shifted over time. This article investigates the criminal careers and pathways to imprisonment of 6,042 women incarcerated in Victoria between 1860 and 1920, and the risk factors associated with subsequent recidivism. The findings suggest that, while many of today’s risk factors were present historically, there have been notable shifts across time.

Exploiting the coverage of administrative data to understand changing criminal careers and the causes of the crime drop: changing conviction patterns in the Scottish Offenders Index, 1989-2011

BackgroundThe status of the Scottish Offenders Index (SOI) as a census (n=all) of conviction proceedings in Scotland allows the adoption of research designs that would be prohibitively costly and time consuming to implement with more traditional survey approaches. This paper argues that this flexibility, combined with the large time span covered by the SOI (1989-current), provides a way to bridge the typical individual (micro-) focus of developmental criminology and the (macro-) analysis of aggregate crime rates.
 ObjectivesBy examining conviction patterns for multiple cohorts across multiple years, we can infer whether recent falls in aggregate conviction rates are most plausibly explained by period or cohort effects. In turn, this distinction between period and cohort effects can both suggest which potential explanations for these recent falls in conviction rates in Scotland are most feasible - thus helping to refine explanations for the recent ’crime drop’ - and help us understand the factors leading to change in criminal careers over time.
 Methods and FindingsTo support these claims, this paper presents the results of an exploratory analysis of change in convictions patterns in the SOI between 1989 and 2011, drawing on demographic information to account for change in population structure. Results show a complex pattern of change over time, with differences in convictions trends for young and old, for men and women and in different periods. Explanations of the crime drop must be able to account for these complex trends.
 ConclusionsAdministrative data provide a unique window into the recent crime drop, and we encourage similar studies on comparable datasets where possible.

Patterns of Substance Abuse in Offenders With Schizophrenia- Illness-Related or Criminal Life-Style?

Objective: The impact of substance abuse on violent behavior in patients suffering from schizophrenia is well-known. However, the association between the pattern of substance abuse and certain aspects of criminal behavior like the severity of offense, the previous history of violence and the age at onset of the criminal career is still unclear.Method: To assess the relationship between substance abuse, schizophrenia and violent behavior we examined healthy non-offenders; healthy offenders; non-offenders suffering from schizophrenia; and offenders suffering from schizophrenia, with respect to different patterns of substance abuse (none, alcohol only, illicit drugs only, and multiple substances).Results: Healthy offenders as well as offenders and non-offenders suffering from schizophrenia are characterized by increased rates of alcohol and illicit drug abuse. Especially multiple substance abuse appears to lower the threshold of aggression and illegal behavior. This effect is more pronounced in subjects suffering from schizophrenia. In both offender groups the abuse of psychoactive substances is associated with an earlier onset of the criminal career, but has no impact on the severity of the offenses.Conclusion: Our results point to the need for a differentiated view on the contribution of substance abuse to the criminality of subjects suffering from schizophrenia.

Comparing the criminal careers and childhood risk factors of persistent, chronic, and persistent–chronic offenders

There have been few efforts to conceptually and empirically distinguish persistent and chronic offenders, despite the prominence of these concepts in the criminological literature. Research has not yet examined if different childhood risk factors are associated with offenders who have the longest criminal careers (persistent offenders), commit the most offences (chronic offenders), or both (persistent–chronic offenders). We address this gap using data from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development. Poverty, poor school attainment, and family stress had a pervasive impact on all forms of offending in correlational analyses. Longer criminal career durations were associated with fewer childhood risk factors than was the case for chronic offenders. Chronic offenders were significantly more likely than persistent offenders to experience many environmental risks in childhood. When controlling for all other risk factors, hyperactivity and parental separation uniquely predicted persistent offending, while high daring and large family size uniquely predicted chronic offending. Our analyses point to the need for responses based on a philosophy of “proportionate universalism,” where universal multisystemic crime prevention strategies that benefit all children incorporate program components that are known to influence the unique risk factors for both persistent and chronic offending.

Accumulating (Dis)advantage: Do Social Bonds Mediate the Relationship Between Multiple Childhood Adversities and Persistent Offending?

The current study examines how cumulative adversity in childhood is related to both frequency of offending and criminal career length in adulthood. Specifically we examine (1) whether multiple adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) predict criminal career length and frequency of offending, and (2) if the formation of adult bonds mediates the relationship between adversity in childhood with persistent and chronic offending in adulthood. Analyses use data on a population of several hundred individuals who have committed numerous violent offenses and have criminal careers of up to 56 years in length (N = 401). Path analysis was used to estimate the total, indirect, and direct effects of the accumulation of multiple adversities on two key dimensions of a criminal career: career length and frequency of offending. Results indicate the pathway to frequent offending differs from the pathway to criminal career length. Prosocial bonds did not mediate the relationship between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and criminal career length; instead, there was a significant direct effect of ACEs on career length. On the other hand, ACEs were negatively and indirectly related to frequency of offending through the particular bond of employment. Results suggest that early years are important for initiating trajectories of disadvantage; at the same time our results also demonstrate a role for interventions across the life course. Early interventions that attempt to diminish the impact of negative beginnings as well as interventions that facilitate efforts to build social capital during adulthood may have the ability to redirect trajectories.

Does Criminal Specialization Predict Case Processing?

Theories of sentencing have pointed out the association between the sentence and the courtroom workgroup’s joint assessment of defendants’ risk and culpability. One of the most important indicators of risk and culpability is prior criminal records. Types of crimes and pattern of prior criminal events are an important part of the legal discourse around sentencing. This discussion is conceptually similar to the criminal career concept of criminal specialization. In the present study, latent class analysis (LCA) is used to measure criminal specialization. The cumulative disadvantage perspective is incorporated into the article to model how specialization predicts a series of case processing outcomes—dismissal, charge reduction, incarceration, and length of incarceration. The analysis found specialists of the current crime—robbery defendants who specialized in robbery and larceny defendants who specialized in larceny—generally received less favorable outcomes.

Criminal Careers Among Female Perpetrators of Family and Nonfamily Homicide in Australia.

Knowledge of women's pathways to serious offending, including homicide, is limited. This study contributes to a small but growing body of literature examining the criminal careers of serious female offenders by using interview data with females convicted of murder or manslaughter in Australia to examine various dimensions of their criminal careers, specifically, prevalence, frequency, age of onset, duration, and offending variety. In particular, in this study we compared criminal career dimensions across women who had killed a family member (e.g., intimate partner, children) and those whose victims were not part of the family unit (i.e., acquaintances or strangers). Our findings reveal differences between female homicide offenders who kill within and outside of the family unit. Although both groups had comparable overall lifetime prevalence of self-reported participation in criminal offending, findings indicate that participation among the family group was typically at low levels of frequency, of limited duration, and with relatively little variety in categories of offending. The family group also reported lower contact with the criminal justice system compared with the nonfamily group, and were less likely to have experienced some form of criminal/legal sanction in the 12 months prior to the homicide incident. This suggests that women who kill family members are more "conventional" than their nonfamily counterparts, in terms of having low and time-limited (i.e., short duration) lifetime participation in criminal offending.

Federal Criminal Careers: an Empirical Examination of the Post-Conviction Risk Assessment (PCRA)

The criminal career paradigm is a major research area but has largely overlooked federal offenders and federal data. Drawing on a population of federal supervised release clients in the Midwestern United States, the current study examined the predictive validity of the federal Post-Conviction Risk Assessment (PCRA) and its subscales for their association with six parameters of the criminal career. Poisson, negative binomial, and logistic regression models showed that PCRA Risk was significantly associated with annual offending rate (lambda), chronicity, prison misconduct, noncompliance on supervised release, having a warrant requested on supervised release, and career criminal status. Various PCRA subscales also were significantly associated with criminal career outcomes especially for current community supervision outcomes. These effects withstood confounding effects for age, sex, race, age of arrest onset, federal criminal history rank, and total prison exposure. The study supported basic criminal career findings using federal data and showed that a standard risk assessment actuarial in the federal system has utility as an indicator of the criminal career.