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Investigating the Longitudinal Relation Between Offending Frequency and Offending Variety

NCJ Number
227737
Journal
Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 36 Issue: 7 Dated: July 2009 Pages: 653-673
Author(s)
Kathryn C. Monahan; Alex R. Piquero
Date Published
July 2009
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This study examined the joint relationship between offending variety and offending frequency in a large sample of serious of adolescence to early adulthood offenders.
Abstract
Results indicate that criminal history, individual characteristics, peer characteristics, and family characteristics predict joint trajectory membership, although the pattern of finding varies based on the joint trajectories being compared. Specifically, youth in the low/low trajectory were primarily distinguished from individuals in the persisting/moderate trajectory by interpersonal factors, having fewer antisocial peers and greater parental monitoring. Among individuals in the desisting variety trajectory, membership in the declining or early-peak frequency trajectory was best predicted by individual characteristics, specifically resistance to peer influence and substance dependency. Among youth who followed the moderate variety trajectory, individuals who were significantly older at first petition were more likely to peak in offending early in adolescence and decline thereafter, than they were to engage inconsistent and moderate levels of offense frequency across time. With time, individuals transition from a greater variety of offenses into a more select repertoire of offenses, including those for which they may accumulate the sort of knowledge to commit with relative impunity. Individuals in the moderate/late-peak trajectory have both prior criminal and social characteristics. In the adolescence-peak variety trajectory, those with lower resistance to peer influence and greater parental monitoring peak in offense frequency in early adolescence and decline thereafter. Those youth who follow the late-peak frequency trajectory tend to be younger at first petition and less dependent on drugs than those in the adolescence-peak variety trajectory who offend at a consistent frequency across time. Data were collected from 1,354 males enrolled in the Research on Pathways to Desistance Study, a prospective study of serious juvenile offenders in Phoenix, AZ, and Philadelphia, PA. Tables, figures, and references