Co-Offender Influences on Criminal Careers (From Criminal Careers and 'Career Criminals,' Volume II, P 121-160, 1986, Alfred Blumstein, et al, eds. - See NCJ-102772)

• NCJ Number: 102776
• Author(s): A J Reiss
• Date Published: 1986
• Length: 40 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; National Academies Press; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: For microfiche, see NCJ-102772.

Annotation

The literature on offender histories shows that committing offenses alone is relatively rare for juvenile offenders and does not become the most common form of offending until the late teens or early twenties.

Abstract

The average size of offending groups declines with age. Solo offending begins to rise sharply at ages 15 to 16 and becomes the main form of offending at about age 20. Many criminal careers consist of one or two offenses committed at very young ages. Participation in criminality peaks around age 17 or 18 and drops markedly in the early twenties. Juvenile offending networks are unstable and are usually unrelated to adult networks. Several kinds of models can be postulated that are consistent with all or most of these observations. The models include a stochastic model, a dynamic population model, a functional model, and a solo survivor model. Several empirical studies have examined desistance from offending and have accounted for group characteristics of offending in criminal careers. Specific deterrence, transactions unique to adolescence, and disruptions of group affiliations may all cause desistance from offending. The latitude that the juvenile court has in investigating and handling juvenile cases suggests the need for serious consideration of identifying and intervening in the juvenile careers that are most likely to lead to adult careers. Research recommendations and 88 references.