NCJ Number
193116
Date Published
2001
Length
14 pages
Annotation
In this essay the author reviews his own cross-national comparisons of risk factors for delinquency, criminal career features, and rates of crime and punishment in different countries.
Abstract
Regarding risk factors for delinquency, several are replicable predictors of delinquency over time and place, especially impulsivity, poor concentration, low achievement, an antisocial parent, a large family, low family income, a broken family, poor parental supervision, and parental conflict. More replication studies are required to determine the universality of the major risk factors for delinquency. A review of longitudinal studies of criminal careers in London and Stockholm found most criminal career features to be similar in the two cities. The aggregate age-crime curve was similar in the two cities, peaking at about age seventeen; and the types of offenses committed in different age ranges were similar in both countries. The distribution of criminal career lengths was similar in the two countries, and an early age of onset of offending predicted a large number of offenses and a long criminal career. A review of a study of criminal justice system responses to crime in the United States and England found that the United States was far more punitive, having a higher probability of custody and a much longer average time served. In England there were consistent negative correlations between the risk of punishment and the crime rate; however, there were no consistent negative correlations between the severity of punishment and the crime rate in either country. The author recommends mounting a coordinated program of cross-national comparative studies, which could produce great advances in knowledge about criminal careers, risk factors, and effective crime prevention methods. 4 figures and 24 references