NCJ Number
223812
Journal
Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency Volume: 45 Issue: 3 Dated: August 2008 Pages: 256-286
Date Published
August 2008
Length
31 pages
Annotation
This article examines the relation between criminal conduct and mortality rates in the Netherlands.
Abstract
Results show that in the subsequent 25-year period (1997-2002) in the Netherlands, convicted criminals ran about 1.8 times as much risk of dying as the average citizen. The risk of dying of natural causes was 1.6 times as high, and the chance of dying of unnatural causes was 2.5 times as high. Convicted persons run greater risks of dying of unnatural causes such as accidents, homicide, and suicide. In addition, the risk of premature, unnatural death varies with high-rate, persistent offenders revealing higher risks than other types of offenders. Collectively, results of the study are in line with criminological theories that anticipated an offending/mortality linkage generally (Gottfredson and Hirschi 1990) and with developmental/life-course theories in particular (Moffitt 2006) than anticipated variations in offending careers and variations in the life-course outcome among distinct offender trajectories. Future research should focus on the circumstances of the death, with more attention to exploring individual, social, and situational correlates. Also some attention should be given to studying if those who died had already ceased their criminal activities. Data were from the Criminal Careers and Life Course Study, which traced the life course and criminal careers of 4,615 males and females convicted in 1977 until 2002, conducted by the Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement. Tables, figures, notes, and references