Alex R. Piquero

Systematic review of early risk factors for life-course-persistent, adolescence-limited, and late-onset offenders in prospective longitudinal studies

This paper builds on our previous systematic review of prospective longitudinal studies and examines the early risk factors associated with life-course persistent offending (LCP), adolescence-limited (AL) and late-onset (LO) offending. Out of the 55 prospective longitudinal studies which theoretically could possess the relevant information, only four provided information about risk factors associated with the different offending types. An additional three provided data so that relevant analyses could be conducted. The results suggested that there was little evidence that specific early risk factors were associated with specific offending types. There was also limited evidence that specific risk factors predicted specific offending types when criminal career duration was included in the definitions of LCP, AL, and LO offending. However, LCP offenders tended to have a greater number of risk factors, and the magnitude of these was somewhat greater than for AL offenders, who in turn tended to have more risk factors (and of a greater magnitude) than LO offenders. LCP and AL offenders may differ more in degree (in the number and magnitude of risk factors) than in kind (in the specific risk factors that are predictive). Importantly, as the potential criminal career duration was increased in defining the offending types, those with longer careers tended to have more risk factors, but, LCP and AL offenders were not predicted by different risk factors. Much more research is needed on risk factors for offending types defined according to criminal career durations.

Female delinquency from childhood to young adulthood : recent results from the Pittsburgh Girls Study

Female delinquency from childhood to young adulthood : recent results from the Pittsburgh Girls Study

Key Issues in Criminal Career Research: Overview of CSDD Data

We use data from a classic, large-scale, longitudinal study to examine the patterning of criminal activity: the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development. We provide a description of (1) the sample, (2) measures of offending, (3) attrition, and (4) the social context in which the data were first collected. Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development Description of the Sample The Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development (CSDD) is a prospective longitudinal survey of the development of antisocial and offending behavior in 411 South London boys, mostly born in 1953. The study began in 1961, and for the first 20 years it was directed by Donald West; in 1969, David Farrington joined the team and has been the director of the study since 1981. The original aim of the study was (1) to describe the development of delinquent and criminal behavior in inner-city males, (2) to investigate how well it could be predicted in advance, and (3) to explain why juvenile delinquency began, why it did or did not continue into adult crime, and why adult crime often ended as men reached their 20s. The main focus was on continuity and discontinuity in behavioral development, on the effects of risk factors and life events on development, and on predicting future behavior. Major results of the CSDD can be found in four books (West, 1969, 1982; West and Farrington, 1973, 1977) and in more than 100 papers by Farrington (2003b).