Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 19, 2025
07:36
An Experimental Analysis of Children's Ability to Provide a False Report about a Crime
Published on: May 3, 2016
8.9K
Criminal career duration: Predictability from self-reports and official records
Lia Ahonen1, Douglas FitzGerald1, Kaylee Klingensmith1
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health : CBMH
|June 9, 2020
Summary
Investigating criminal career duration, this study found limited predictability over time. Peer factors were key in distinguishing persistent adolescent offenders, suggesting more developmental pathways than previously theorized.
Area of Science:
- Criminology
- Developmental Psychology
- Sociology
Background:
- Criminal career duration is understudied due to limited longitudinal data.
- Life-course persistent offenders' characteristics and risk profiles require further investigation.
- Moffitt's theory distinguishes adolescent-limited and life-course persistent offending pathways.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the predictability of criminal career duration using official records and self-reports.
- To contextualize findings within Moffitt's developmental theories.
- To identify risk factors for persistent offending in adolescence.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from the Pittsburgh Youth Study (N=506) from age 12 to 40.
- Analyzed self-reported offending (up to age 36) and official police charges (up to age 40).
- Focused on moderate to serious violence and theft, combining data sources for career duration.
Main Results:
- Demonstrated limited predictability of delinquency and offending over time.
- Identified that only a few risk factors, like peer influences, differentiate persistent adolescent offenders.
- Revealed more diverse pathways of delinquent development than Moffitt's original theory proposed.
Conclusions:
- Criminal career duration shows limited predictability, challenging established theories.
- Peer factors are crucial in identifying adolescents at risk for persistent offending.
- Findings have implications for intervention science and policy-making in delinquency prevention.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
02:20Longitudinal Research
13.0K
Sometimes we want to see how people change over time, as in studies of human development and lifespan. When we test the same group of individuals repeatedly over an extended period of time, we are conducting longitudinal research. Longitudinal research is a research design in which data-gathering is administered repeatedly over an extended period of time. For example, we may survey a group of individuals about their dietary habits at age 20, retest them a decade later at age 30, and then again...
13.0K
01:26Longitudinal Studies
400
Longitudinal studies are also widely used in other medical and social science fields. For instance, in cardiovascular research, they can monitor patients' health over decades to identify risk factors for heart disease, such as high cholesterol or smoking, and evaluate the long-term effectiveness of preventive measures. Similarly, in mental health studies, researchers might follow individuals from adolescence into adulthood to understand the development and progression of conditions like...
400
01:22Self-Report Tests of Personality
664
Self-report inventories are objective personality assessments that use multiple-choice items or numbered scales, typically ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). They are often called Likert scales after Rensis Likert. These inventories are widely used due to their ease of administration and cost-effectiveness. One of the most prominent examples is the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), initially developed in the 1940s to assess abnormal personality traits.
664
01:15Assumptions of Survival Analysis
310
Survival models analyze the time until one or more events occur, such as death in biological organisms or failure in mechanical systems. These models are widely used across fields like medicine, biology, engineering, and public health to study time-to-event phenomena. To ensure accurate results, survival analysis relies on key assumptions and careful study design.
310
02:45Self-Discrepancy Theory
18.7K
One influential perspective on what motivates people's behavior is detailed in Tory Higgin's self-discrepancy theory (Higgins, 1987). He proposed that people hold disagreeing internal representations of themselves that lead to different emotional states.
18.7K
01:52Regression Toward the Mean
6.8K
Regression toward the mean (“RTM”) is a phenomenon in which extremely high or low values—for example, and individual’s blood pressure at a particular moment—appear closer to a group’s average upon remeasuring. Although this statistical peculiarity is the result of random error and chance, it has been problematic across various medical, scientific, financial and psychological applications. In particular, RTM, if not taken into account, can interfere when...
6.8K