NCJ Number
224565
Journal
Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice Volume: 50 Issue: 4 Dated: July 2008 Pages: 435-467
Date Published
July 2008
Length
33 pages
Annotation
The present meta-analysis drew on the prospective, longitudinal literature in child development in identifying childhood and youth predictors for later adult offending.
Abstract
The factors identified as particularly strong predictors from the present analysis include: behavioral difficulties including hyperactivity, aggression, and conduct disorder; emotional concerns including depression; family factors that include coercive, inconsistent parent management that also lacks supervision; marital status of the parents; and witnessing family violence and child maltreatment. In the area of developmental differences, major findings that emerge emphasized that certain factors become increasingly stable as predictors with the increasing age of the child. In other words, measures taken in adolescence are stronger predictors than those identified when a child is younger. In addition, understanding of risk prediction and assessment strongly supports the view that it is the combination of factors as well as the intensity of a specific risk factor that leads to the overall potency of prediction. Within a developmental-ecological framework, of which this meta-analysis is an example, service providers may increasingly be able to refine intervention decisions beyond the intensity and focused selection of treatment targets to move to decisionmaking on the timeliness of intervention within a developmental framework. This analysis adds to the increasing confidence in the potential to use a developmental framework within which to plan effective prevention. In this meta-analysis, selected studies were prospective and longitudinal, tracking a variety of early childhood and family factors that could potentially predict later involvement in the adult criminal justice system. Thirty-eight studies met the selection criteria. Tables and references