NCJ Number
227126
Journal
Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency Volume: 46 Issue: 2 Dated: May 2009 Pages: 111-143
Date Published
May 2009
Length
33 pages
Annotation
This study examined delinquent development in Dutch male offenders.
Abstract
Results identified five developmental trajectories of serious offending in a sample of high-risk youth: adolescence-limited serious (ALS) offenders, low-frequency desisters (LFDs), late bloomers (LBs), high-frequency desisters (HFDs), and high-frequency chronic (HFC) offenders. Relating trajectories to psychological, behavioral, and background characteristics revealed four offender profiles. These profiles corresponded partially with predictions based on current typological theories. Noted was that despite the fact that the vast majority of these boys were serious recidivists, three quarters of the sample turned out to be low-rate offenders by age 32, and on the basis of estimated offense rates. Also noted was that the small group that developed into high-frequency serious offenders was not homogeneous; also identified were HFC offenders whose offending started early and were associated with external risk factors and more violent LBs offenders who are characterized more by internal risk factors, such as psychopathology. The low prevalence rates of offending in low-risk community samples would probably not have distinguished between these distinct trajectories. Data were collected from 270 male offenders from age 12 to 32 who underwent residential treatment for problematic behavior and delinquency in a Dutch juvenile justice institution. Tables, figures, notes, appendix, and references