NCJ Number
220521
Journal
Criminal Justice Studies Volume: 20 Issue: 3 Dated: September 2007 Pages: 231-253
Date Published
September 2007
Length
23 pages
Annotation
Using data from the National Youth Survey, this study examined whether psychosocial factors differentiated offenders who desisted from reoffending from those who reoffended and whether these factors varied for offenders who desisted from general and more serious forms of offending.
Abstract
Results show that risk factors such as delinquent dispositions, delinquent peer association, perceived certainty of punishment, and drug/alcohol use distinguished desisters from reoffending from persisters in reoffending. Involvement in conventional activities and marriage distinguished desisters from persisters for general delinquency; i.e., desisters from less serious crime exhibited stronger bonds to marriage. The measures that distinguished desisters and persisters from serious delinquency differed from those found for general delinquency. The findings suggest that desisters from general crime are more likely to be influenced by social control and deterrence measures than desisters from serious crime. Recommendations are offered for future research. The data used in the analyses were drawn from the first seven waves of the National Youth Survey, a well-known panel study developed from a national probability household sample of adolescents across the United States. Throughout each of the seven waves, data were collected through personal interviews. The total number of individuals for whom data existed across all 7 waves was 1,224, representing a 29-percent attrition rate. Measures included in the analyses addressed processes of social control, deterrence, strain, and social learning. General delinquency was measured with a scale developed by the researchers. Desistance and persistence was measured over a period of 3 years. 4 tables, 9 notes, and 70 references