NCJ Number
80357
Journal
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology Volume: 14 Issue: 3 Dated: (September 1981) Pages: 157-164
Date Published
1981
Length
8 pages
Annotation
Findings are presented from an Australian study that examined the relationship of male juvenile delinquency to subsequent adult criminality, using a cross-sectional rather than the customary longitudinal model of analysis.
Abstract
The study sample consisted of all adult males (numbering 3,225) who were dealt with by higher criminal courts in New South Wales in 1976. In ascertaining the juvenile delinquency records of the sample, juvenile delinquency was operationally defined as convictions by a children's court, and adult criminality was defined as convictions by a court of petty sessions or higher criminal court. In order to increase the reliability of the findings, the error inherent in the population estimates was given a bias against the implicit hypothesis of the study i.e., that there is a positive association between juvenile delinquency and later adult criminality. Findings show that, as adults, ex-juvenile delinquents are about 45 times more likely to be charged with an indictable offense than are nondelinquents. When so charged, they are between 2 and 3 times more likely to have had high or lower court convictions. Those who had been committed to a juvenile correctional institution were about 4.5 times more likely to be charged with an indictable offense than ex-delinquents who had not been so committed. Tabular data and 28 references are provided.