NCJ Number
190488
Journal
Justice Quarterly Volume: 18 Issue: 3 Dated: September 2001 Pages: 449-478
Date Published
September 2001
Length
30 pages
Annotation
This study describes the relationships between serious, violent, and chronic juvenile delinquency and adult criminality using data from the 1958 Philadelphia birth cohort during the 16 years in which these 27,167 individuals were at risk for juvenile delinquency and young adult crime.
Abstract
The participants included 13,160 males and 14,000 females who lived in Philadelphia from ages 10- to 18-years-old. Official records provided information on the offense careers from early onset as juveniles through age 26. The research controlled for differences based on race, gender, and neighborhood social status. Results revealed that belonging to certain delinquency subgroups or following certain pathways increased the likelihood of being arrested in adulthood. Adult offending was reported for 48 percent of the serious delinquents, 52.8 percent of the violent delinquents, 58.5 percent of the chronic delinquents, 62.5 percent of the delinquents with both serious and chronic offending, and 63.1 percent of the violent and chronic delinquents. The effect of career type was as strong for females as for males. The general findings were consistent across demographic criteria, although prevalence differed. Findings indicated the importance to developmental criminology of linking juvenile delinquency career types to adult criminality for policymaking and theory development. Tables, figure, and 69 references (Author abstract modified)