Delphine Theobald

Effects of Getting Married on Offending Results from a Prospective Longitudinal Survey of Males

In the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development, 411 males were followed up from age 8 to age 48. This analysis of the effects of marriage on offending is based on 162 convicted males. The age of marriage was stratified into early (18—21 years), mid-range (22—24 years), and late (25 years or later). Risk factors at age 8—10 were used to calculate propensity scores that predicted the likelihood of getting married. Convictions before and after the age of first marriage were investigated for married males and for unmarried males who were matched on the number of convictions before marriage and on the propensity score. The results showed that getting married was followed by a reduction in offending but only for early (age 18—21) and mid-range (age 22—24) marriages. The analysis was replicated using risk factors at age 18, with the same results.

Child and adolescent predictors of male intimate partner violence

BACKGROUND This study addresses to what extent child and adolescent explanatory factors predict male perpetrated intimate partner violence (IPV) in adulthood. METHODS We use prospective longitudinal data from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development (CSDD). The CSDD is a survey of 411 male born in the 1950s in an inner London area. The men were interviewed over a period of 40 years with information also gathered from their parents, peers and teachers and later from their female partners. RESULTS Family factors such as having a criminal father, a disrupted family, poor supervision and relationship problems with parents predicted later IPV. Individual predictors included unpopularity, daring, impulsivity, aggressiveness and low verbal IQ. There was evidence of cumulative risk for later violence in intimate partnerships. CONCLUSIONS Early childhood factors predict adult male IPV. No other study has showed the predictability of IPV over a 40-year time interval in a prospective survey. The IPV men tended to have convictions for violence and tended to be unsuccessful in areas such as employment, drinking and drug use.

The Overlap Between Offending Trajectories, Criminal Violence, and Intimate Partner Violence:

This article investigates the overlap between offending trajectories, criminal violence, and intimate partner violence (IPV) and the factors associated with these behaviors. Knowledge on these questions is relevant to theory and policy. For the former, this article considers the extent to which specific theories are needed for understanding crime, criminal violence, and/or IPV, whereas for the latter, it may suggest specific offense- and offender-based policies. We use data from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development that traces the offending, criminal violence, and IPV of males to age 50. Findings show that there is significant overlap between criminal violence and IPV, high-rate offending trajectories have increased odds of criminal violence and IPV, and early childhood risk factors have no additional effect on criminal violence and IPV in adulthood over and above the offending trajectories.

Scaling up from convictions to self-reported offending

AIM The main aims of this article are to estimate the number of offences that are committed for every one that leads to conviction, and to estimate the probability of an offender being convicted. METHOD In the Pittsburgh Youth Study, 506 boys were followed up from age 13 to age 24 years, in interviews and criminal records. Self-reports and convictions for serious theft, moderate theft, serious violence and moderate violence were compared. RESULTS On average, 22 offences were self-reported for every conviction. This scaling-up factor increased with age and was the highest for moderate theft and the lowest for serious theft. The probability of a self-reported offender being convicted was 54%. This percentage increased with the frequency and seriousness of offending and was always higher for African American boys than for Caucasian boys. These race differences probably reflected differences in exposure to risk factors. CONCLUSIONS More research is needed on scaling-up factors, on frequent and serious offenders who are not convicted, on self-reported non-offenders who are convicted and on why African American boys are more likely than Caucasian boys to be convicted.

The effects of marital breakdown on offending: results from a prospective longitudinal survey of males

Abstract We examined the factors that predicted marital separation in the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development, which is a prospective longitudinal survey of 411 London males. We found that dishonesty, having a wife with a conviction(s), convictions, a poor relationship with parents, no exams passed, unprotected sex and having a shotgun marriage predicted marital breakdown. Males from broken homes due to marital conflict had a moderate risk of suffering marital breakdown themselves but the effect was mediated by having conviction(s). An analysis in which separated men were matched with controls on age at marriage, prior convictions and a propensity score predicting the likelihood of separation showed that a mans convictions increased after becoming separated. However, if a man formed a new intimate relationship, the increase in convictions after separation was reduced.

Are Male Perpetrators of Intimate Partner Violence Different From Convicted Violent Offenders? Examination of Psychopathic Traits and Life Success in Males From a Community Survey

We used data from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development, a prospective longitudinal survey of more than 400 males in the United Kingdom followed from age 8 to age 48 to investigate intimate partner violence (IPV) and its association with psychopathy. We investigated the differences in psychopathy scores between those men who were convicted of violence, those who were involved in both extra- and intra-familial violence, and those who committed IPV only. We also considered whether these generally violent men had poorer life success overall with regard to their drinking and drug taking, depression, and other mental disorders. Our findings suggest that those men who are violent both within and outside the home (the generally violent men) are distinguished from those who commit violent crimes outside the home and those who are involved in IPV within the home only. The differences appear to be more in degree than in kind. These findings are discussed with a focus on whether specific interventions are required for those who commit IPV or whether early intervention should be focused on violent behavior in general.

Continuity of cannabis use and violent offending over the life course.

BACKGROUND Although the association between cannabis use and violence has been reported in the literature, the precise nature of this relationship, especially the directionality of the association, is unclear. METHOD Young males from the Cambridge Study of Delinquent Development (n = 411) were followed up between the ages of 8 and 56 years to prospectively investigate the association between cannabis use and violence. A multi-wave (eight assessments, T1-T8) follow-up design was employed that allowed temporal sequencing of the variables of interest and the analysis of violent outcome measures obtained from two sources: (i) criminal records (violent conviction); and (ii) self-reports. A combination of analytic approaches allowing inferences as to the directionality of associations was employed, including multivariate logistic regression analysis, fixed-effects analysis and cross-lagged modelling. RESULTS Multivariable logistic regression revealed that compared with never-users, continued exposure to cannabis (use at age 18, 32 and 48 years) was associated with a higher risk of subsequent violent behaviour, as indexed by convictions [odds ratio (OR) 7.1, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.19-23.59] or self-reports (OR 8.9, 95% CI 2.37-46.21). This effect persisted after controlling for other putative risk factors for violence. In predicting violence, fixed-effects analysis and cross-lagged modelling further indicated that this effect could not be explained by other unobserved time-invariant factors. Furthermore, these analyses uncovered a bi-directional relationship between cannabis use and violence. CONCLUSIONS Together, these results provide strong indication that cannabis use predicts subsequent violent offending, suggesting a possible causal effect, and provide empirical evidence that may have implications for public policy.

Does the birth of a first child reduce the father's offending?

A little investigated correlate of persistence and desistance is the effect of parenthood. Research suggests that for females particularly, parenthood plays an important role but the evidence for males is mixed. Yet, prior studies have not considered potential selection effects. This paper seeks to overcome this limitation by examining the effects of having a child on offending using propensity score matching, with data from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development, a longitudinal study of 411 South London males followed since childhood. Findings indicate that, while there are reductions in offending from several years before the child’s birth to several years after the child’s birth, the effects are not large. Further analyses examining ‘shotgun’ marriages show that reductions in offending are larger than for non-‘shotgun’ marriages. Also, if a man remains with the child for at least five years, then reductions in convictions are greater than when he does not.

The Intersections of Drug Use Continuity With Nonviolent Offending and Involvement in Violence Over the Life Course Findings From the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development

While there is much research on the continuity of drug use over the life course, these studies tend not to consider the intersections of drug use continuity with offending in general and violence in particular. The current study uses data from 411 South London males who were participants in the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development to investigate these associations from adolescence to age 50. Results suggest that the prevalence of drug use continuity (e.g., drug use in adolescence and adulthood) is rather high (45.4%) and that variability in drug use is differentially related to nonviolent offending and involvement in violence specifically. In this vein, the most pronounced relationship surrounding differential involvement in drug use is the association between drug use continuity and nonviolent offending and violence. Individual and environmental risk factors are also relevant predictors of nonviolent offending and violence. Study limitations and directions for future research are also discussed.

Risk factors for dating violence versus cohabiting violence: Results from the third generation of the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development.

BACKGROUND Dating violence is an important problem. Evidence suggests that women are more likely to perpetrate dating violence. AIMS The present study investigates the prevalence of dating violence compared with cohabiting violence in a community sample of men and women and assesses to what extent child and adolescent explanatory factors predict this behaviour. A secondary aim is to construct a risk score for dating violence based on the strongest risk factors. METHODS The Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development is a prospective longitudinal survey of 411 men (generation 2) born in the 1950s in an inner London area. Most recently, their sons and daughters [generation 3 (G3)] have been interviewed regarding their perpetration of dating and cohabiting violence, utilising the Conflict Tactics Scale. Risk factors were measured in four domains (family, parental, socio-economic and individual). RESULTS A larger proportion of women than men perpetrated at least one act of violence towards their dating partner (36.4 vs 21.7%). There was a similar pattern for cohabiting violence (39.6 vs 21.4%). A number of risk factors were significantly associated with the perpetration of dating violence. For G3 women, these included a convicted father, parental conflict, large family size and poor housing. For G3 men, these included having a young father or mother, separation from the father before age 16, early school leaving, frequent truancy and having a criminal conviction. A risk score for both men and women, based on 10 risk factors, significantly predicted dating violence. CONCLUSION Risk factors from four domains were important in predicting dating violence, but they were different for G3 men and women. It may be important to consider different risk factors and different risk assessments for male compared with female perpetration of dating violence. Early identification and interventions are recommended. Copyright