NCJ Number
195224
Journal
British Journal of Criminology Volume: 42 Issue: 2 Dated: Spring 2002 Pages: 395-411
Date Published
2002
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This study identified whether an offender’s first offense was predictive of whether or not the offender would become a chronic criminal.
Abstract
This study examined persons appearing on the register of those convicted of criminal offenses in Sweden. The researcher included all persons from the 1960, 1965, 1970, and 1975 birth cohorts. The main research question was whether the type of first offense could be predictive of a career in crime. The author’s objective was to identify those types of first offenses that would indicate a high risk for a continued criminal career. The participants were divided up into four groups, based on the number of convictions for each participant: one-time offenders, occasional offenders, repeat offenders, and chronic offenders. The results indicated that chronic offenders were convicted of their first crimes at a considerably younger age than members of the other three groups. Chronic offenders were also more likely than members of the other three groups to engage in vehicle theft as their first offense. In fact, 27 percent of those who commit vehicle theft as offense one, go on to commit 50 percent of Sweden’s crimes. Thus, the author concludes that type of first offense can indeed be predictive of whether or not the offender will go on to become a chronic criminal. The main implication of this research is that criminal justice strategies should be focused on first offenders who commit particular types of crimes in order to be most effective in curbing the crime rate. 11 Tables