Miller wbetc002.tex V1 - 10/19/2013 1:24 P.M. Page 1. Criminal Careers. JENNIFER M. REINGLE. The contribution of criminal careers research lies in the ability ...
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Criminal Careers JENNIFER M. REINGLE The contribution of criminal careers research lies in the ability to differentiate one-time criminal offenders from chronic offenders. Specifically, Blumstein and colleagues proposed the definition as the “characterization of the longitudinal sequence of crimes committed by an individual offender” (Blumstein, Cohen, Roth, & Visher, 1986, p. 12). This means that at some point in their lives, someone begins to offend, they continue to offend for some amount of time, and then they desist (stop offending). In this entry, I will discuss typologies, or patterns, of criminal behavior, including life-course persistent and adolescent limited offenders. We will examine how these typologies differentiate the frequency and severity of crime, as well as the length and characteristics of criminal careers. Several theories have been proposed to explain why some offenders continue to engage in criminality over their lifespan, while others desist in adolescence. The predominant theories, including Moffitt’s dual-taxonomy (Moffitt, 1993; Moffitt, Caspi, Rutter, & Silva, 2001), Sampson and Laub’s (1997) age-graded social control theory, and the integrated cognitive antisocial potential theory (Farrington, 2003) will be discussed. Moffitt (1993) and Moffitt et al. (2001) offer a dual-taxonomy of criminal behavior, recognizing life-course persistent offenders and adolescent limited offenders as distinct in their reasons for engaging in crime. They argue that life-course persistent offenders (those who engage in criminal behavior for the majority of their lifetime) begin life with differences in neurological functioning and early behavioral problems (Moffitt, 2005). These children may have been abused or neglected, and often exhibit antisocial behavior (Moffitt, 2005). These individuals often come from poorly functioning families, do poorly in school, and associate with other criminal and/or deviant peers (Moffitt, 1993; Moffitt et al., 2001). They are also more likely to be raised
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in neglected, low-income neighborhoods and have parents with antisocial tendencies or belowaverage cognitive abilities. These environments increase the likelihood that the child’s genetic predispositions to violence will surface, and antisocial behavior will prevail (Moffitt, 1993; Moffitt et al., 2001). Criminal behavior in life-course persistent offenders begins early and continues throughout life. A cycle of cumulative disadvantage entrenches them in the criminal world: These individuals have few law-abiding friends (because of their antisocial behavior) and do poorly in school. Outside of school, they engage in delinquent and later criminal behavior. This lifestyle is very difficult for the individual to break away from, as the individual has very few conventional ties (Moffitt, 1993; Moffitt et al., 2001). Gradually throughout childhood and adolescence, the individual begins to identify themselves as criminal (Moffitt, 1993). As a result, life-course persistent offenders exhibit “contemporary continuity,” meaning that the offender brings the same deviant traits that they exhibited as an adolescent to adulthood and act in a similar manner. Now, any major turning points in life (or pathways from crime, such as marriage or higher education) are likely to be bypassed (Moffitt, 1993). After all pathways out of delinquency are no longer available, life-course persistent offenders are embedded in their deviant lifestyle for the majority of their lives. The alternative pathway of offending that Moffitt and her colleagues describe in their taxonomy is the adolescent limited trajectory (Moffitt, 1993; Moffitt et al., 2001). Unlike life-course persistent offenders, adolescent limited offenders have normal childhoods, begin engaging in criminal behavior later in life (usually between 15 and 17), and terminate their illegal behavior shortly after initiating it (usually by age 19) (Moffitt, 1993). Adolescent limited offenders are often tempted to engage in criminal acts because of the “maturity gap”: Young people feel biologically and socially mature, but they are not legally allowed to be independent or given adult freedoms (Moffitt, 1993; Moffitt et al., 2001). They want to engage
The Encyclopedia of Theoretical Criminology, First Edition. Edited by J. Mitchell Miller. © 2014 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published 2014 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd. DOI: 10.1002/9781118517390/wbetc002
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in deviant, dangerous, or other behaviors to defy their parents and appear mature. To this end, adolescent limited offenders briefly (and sporadically) model the life-course persistent offenders in their criminal behavior (Moffitt, 1993). A short time later, adolescent limited offenders return to their law-abiding lives, as the risks of criminal behavior are far too severe. These individuals are likely to go to college and/or obtain a good job; therefore, the costs of criminal behavior are far higher for this group than for the life-course persistent offenders. These adolescent limited offenders recognize the potential consequences of getting caught and discontinue any criminal behavior early (Moffitt, 1993; Moffitt et al., 2001). Several other theories have been proposed to explain why some offenders desist from crime, while others continue to offend. Sampson and Laub (1997) proposed an age-graded social control theory, which allows for both static and dynamic effects. Static effects are generally non-developmental and focus on characteristics of the offender at one time. These theories do not account for desistance from crime with age, and ignore developmental changes that may influence criminality (marriage, job, etc.). Dynamic theories focus on the reasons for criminal activity, rather than the differences in inherent characteristics of the offender. Sampson and Laub’s theory asserts that informal social control mechanisms causally affect criminality, and this effect differs by age group. Both the type and the quality (rather than the mere existence) of risk and protective factors affect changes in criminal behavior (e.g., the quality of the marriage rather than the mere existence of a marriage). The theory of age-graded social control was extended to include the “cumulative disadvantage” construct from labeling theory, as a large number of risk factors may exert a negative, cumulative effect on risk for crime. Also, this effect may change as the dynamic risk and protective factors change over time. A third perspective, referred to as the integrated cognitive antisocial potential theory (Farrington, 2003) integrates multiple theories of crime, including rational choice, control, social learning, strain, and labeling theories. Under this paradigm, each individual has an antisocial potential, reflecting his or her propensity for
deviant behavior. The distribution of the antisocial potential is highly skewed, as most people have a very low antisocial potential (e.g., low propensity for deviant or criminal behavior). Persons with a low antisocial potential will not offend even when it appears rational to do so. Antisocial potential may be long- or short-term, and tends to vary with age. An individual’s long-term antisocial potential is determined by individual characteristics, including parenting, socialization, impulsivity, stress, and traumatic life events. Any negative interaction between these risk factors may increase or decrease an individual’s long-term antisocial potential. Therefore, long-term antisocial potential is generally a static effect. Short-term antisocial potential, on the other hand, is determined by situational and motivational factors that influence contextspecific offending. These are dynamic effects, and a person with low long-term antisocial potential may commit offenses if they have low short-term antisocial potential (e.g., are bored or intoxicated) even when it is irrational for them to do so. Overall, this perspective posits that offending results from a social learning process. The age of onset is a critical dimension of the life-course perspective, reflecting an individual’s propensity to commit a large number of crimes over their criminal career (Farrington, 1990). The average age of onset for initiation of criminal offending is prior to age 15 (generally 13–19), and criminal behavior peaks between the ages of 15 and 19 (Farrington, 1992; Piquero, Farrington, & Blumstein, 2003). In early adulthood, participation in crime gradually decreases. During this span, the average offender commits eight crimes (Spelman, 1994). However, this number is greatly skewed, as offenders who have been incarcerated commit between 30 and 50 crimes annually (Spelman, 1994). Earlier onset of criminal behavior tends to result in a longer criminal career with a larger number of criminal offenses (Farrington, Lambert, & West, 1998). According to data from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development (CSDD), criminal behavior peaks at age 16 (lambda = 1.787), after which prevalence and frequency of crime decreases (Piquero et al., 2003). For most types of crime, offending decreases with age. Recidivism, or reoffending, among those who were incarcerated is high. Using CSDD data
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CRIMINAL CAREERS collected from men through age 32, the probabilities of recidivism are 0.79–0.91 from the third through to the tenth offense (Farrington, Lambert, West, 1998). Farrington (1986) estimated that the duration of criminal careers was 10.4 years when one-time offenders were excluded from analyses. When first-time offenders were included, the average length of a criminal career was 7.1 years. Piquero, Brame, and Lynam (2004) estimated the length of criminal careers from first police contact to last arrest to be 17.3 years. A small number of offenders are responsible for the largest proportion of offenses (Farrington & West, 1993). These offenders usually begin criminal activity early on, as those who started between the ages of 10 and 13 had criminal careers lasting 11.6 years, with an average of 8.8 offenses (Farrington et al., 1998). Of those who began offending between the ages of 21–30, the length of the criminal career was 2.3 years, with 1.8 offenses. In most cases, offenders are not highly specialized in their offending, that is, offenders do not often repeat involvement in one type of criminal activity (Piquero, 2000). For example, a person who commits a robbery one week may be just as inclined to burglarize a dwelling or commit an assault the next week. Property offenders are generally more specialized than violent offenders (Petersilia, Greenwood, & Lavin, 1978; Piquero, 2000; Piquero & Buka, 2002; Spelman, 1994). There is no difference by gender in the likelihood of specialization (Mazerolle, Brame, Paternoster, Piquero, & Dean, 2000; Piquero & Buka, 2002). Co-offending may be defined as the participation in criminal behavior while in a group setting. Up to age 20, most offenses are committed in groups, but this transitions to individual offending with age (Conway & McCord, 2002; Piquero, Oster, Mazerolle, Brame, & Dean, 1999). According to Sarnecki (2001), 60% of individuals in a delinquent network in Stockholm had a co-offender at some point in their criminal career. The most active delinquents had the most co-offenders, and they were likely to be the same age as the offender (Sarnecki, 2001). When these groups of co-offenders were present, they were largely gender-specific. Many offenders will desist on their own as a result of their own significant life events (Laub,
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Nagin, & Sampson, 1998). In addition, punitive correctional programs do not appear to reduce recidivism (Currie, 1998; MacKenzie, 1997; Nagin, 1998), and meta-analyses have demonstrated the effectiveness of intervention with juveniles who may be initiating their criminal careers (Lipsey, 1999). Specifically, the meta-analysis found that the most effective correctional interventions among juveniles may reduce recidivism by 40–50%. The principles of effective correctional intervention suggest that programs for new arrestees should target criminogenic risk factors, or those known predictors for recidivism early in the criminal career. This is appropriate because the best predictors of crime and recidivism are dynamic (antisocial values, attitudes, and beliefs; peer-influences that support criminality; and personality factors such as low self-control, impulsivity, and other risky behavior), according to meta-analyses by Andrews and Bonta (1998) and Gendreau, Little, and Goggin (1996). Criminal careers can be modified with proper intervention early in the offending career. Truth in sentencing, three-strikes laws, habitual offender statutes, and mandatory minimum sentences are premised on the “bad apples” paradigm of offending. In other words, those who offend a certain number of times, or those who commit a given crime, are “bad apples” and should be incarcerated and therefore, incapacitated, for a long time, or even a lifetime. The purpose of these policies is to selectively incapacitate the most persistent, violent offenders. In an ideal world, the most violent, career criminals would be identified immediately after the onset of a criminal career, maximizing the effect of selective incapacitation. Unfortunately, this rarely happens in practice, as career criminals are difficult to identify. In testing a scale that was developed to identify high-rate, serious offenders, only 60% of those tested were correctly classified as career criminals (Auerhahn, 1999). This high misclassification rate shows the problems inherent in identifying those who will desist from crime on their own and those who will continue as career criminals. Three-strikes laws are policies that drastically increase an offenders’ sentence after a third conviction. The purpose of these laws is to identify chronic, career offenders, and incapacitate them. However, in California, Zimring, Kamin, and
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SEE ALSO: Age and Crime; Deterrence; Deviance; Life-Course Criminology; Longitudinal Designs; Moffitt, Terrie; Violent Crime.
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Hawkins (1999) did not find three-strikes laws effective in decreasing the rates of serious criminal behavior. Specifically, at the “third-strike” arrest, the mean age of the offender was 34.6. This indicates that the criminal career ahead of the offender is longer at the first strike than the third; therefore, at the third arrest, the offender is more likely to be near desistence. Because the threestrikes policies often incarcerate individuals for a lifetime, the result of these policies is a serious increase in the prison population. The system frequently does not identify the “bad apples” (or chronic offenders) until they have an extensive record of offending, and are near the end of their criminal career. This entry has briefly discussed the predominant theoretical perspectives of criminal careers research, with an application of these theories in the “real world” of the criminal justice system. In general, the criminal careers framework posits that criminal behavior, and its unique risk and protective factors, change over time. This framework has the potential to integrate general theories of crime (e.g., social learning, strain, control); however, the framework provides an explanation for the dynamic nature of crime. Prevention and policy should reflect the clarity of the research in support of criminal careers, as most individuals desist from crime early in adulthood, and those who will not desist should be targeted for intervention early in the life course. Overall, this perspective contributes to our knowledge of crime, dynamic risk factors for criminal behavior, and provides insight into the need for programs and policies for public protection. wbetc220
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References Andrews, D. A., & Bonta, J. (1998). Psychology of criminal conduct, 2nd ed. Cincinnati, OH: Anderson. Auerhahn, K. (1999). Selective incapacitation and the problem or prediction. Criminology, 37, 703–734. Blumstein, A., Cohen, J., Roth, J. A., & Visher, C. A. (Eds.) (1986). Criminal careers and “career criminals,” vol. 1. Report of the Panel on Criminal Careers, National Research Council. Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences.
Conway, K. P., & McCord, J. (2002). A longitudinal examination of the relation between co-offending with violent accomplices and violent crime. Aggression & Violent Behavior, 28, 97–108. Currie, E. (1998). Crime and punishment in America. New York: Metropolitan Books. Farrington, D. P. (1990). Age, period, cohort, and offending. In D. M. Gottfredson & R. V. Clarke (Eds.), Policy and theory in criminal justice: Contributions in honor of Leslie T. Wilkins (pp. 51–75). Aldershot, England: Avebury. Farrington, D. P. (1992). Criminal career research in the United Kingdom. British Journal of Criminology, 32, 521–536. Farrington, D. P. (2003). Developmental and lifecourse criminology: Key theoretical and empirical issues – The 2002 Sutherland award address. Criminology, 41, 221–255. Farrington, D. P., Lambert, S., & West, D. J. (1998). Criminal careers of two generations of family members in the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development. Studies on Crime and Crime Prevention, 7, 85–106. Farrington, D. P., & West, D. J. (1993). Criminal, penal, and life histories of chronic offenders: Risk and protective factors and early identification. Criminal Behavior and Mental Health, 3, 492–523. Gendreau, P., Little, T., & Goggin, C. (1996). A metaanalysis of the predictors of adult offender recidivism: What works! Criminology, 34, 575–607. Laub, J. H., Nagin, D. S., & Sampson, R. J. (1998). Good marriages and trajectories of change in criminal offending. American Sociological Review, 63, 225–238. Lipsey, M. W. (1999). Can intervention rehabilitate serious delinquents? Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 564 (1), 142–166. MacKenzie, D. L. (1997). Criminal justice and crime prevention. In L.W. Sherman, D. Gottfredson, D. MacKenzie, J. Eck, P. Reuter, & S. Bushway (Eds.), Preventing crime: What works, what doesn’t, what’s promising. Research Report, NCJ 165366. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice. Mazerolle, P., Brame, R., Paternoster, R., Piquero, A., & Dean, C. (2000). Onset age, persistence, and offending versatility: Comparisons across gender. Criminology, 38, 1143–1172. Moffitt, T. E. (1993). “Life-course persistent” and “adolescence-limited” antisocial behavior: A developmental taxonomy. Psychological Review, 100, 674–701. Moffitt, T. E. (2005). Genetic and environmental influences on antisocial behaviors: Evidence from behavioral-genetic research. Advances in Genetics, 55, 41–104.
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CRIMINAL CAREERS Moffitt, T. E., Caspi, A., Rutter, M., & Silva, P. A. (2001). Sex difference in antisocial behavior: Conduct disorder, delinquency, and violence in the Dunedin Longitudinal Study. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Nagin, D. S. (1998). Criminal deterrence research at the outset of the twenty-first century. In M. Tonry (Ed.), Crime and justice: A review of the research, vol. 23 (pp. 1–42). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Petersilia, J., Greenwood, P. W., & Lavin, M. (1978). Criminal careers of habitual felons. Washington, DC: National Institute of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice, Law Enforcement Assistance Administration. Piquero, A. R. (2000). Assessing the relationships between gender, chronicity, seriousness, and offense skewness in criminal offending. Journal of Criminal Justice, 28, 103–16. Piquero, A. R., Brame, R., & Lynam, D. (2004). Studying career length through early adulthood among serious offenders. Crime and Delinquency, 50, 412–435. Piquero, A. R., & Buka, S. L. (2002). Linking juvenile and adult patterns of criminal activity in the providence cohort of the national collaborative perinatal project. Journal of Criminal Justice, 30, 1–14.
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Piquero, A. R., Farrington, D. P., & Blumstein, A. (2003). The criminal career paradigm. In M. Tonry (Ed.), Crime and justice, vol. 30 (pp. 359–506). Chicago: University of Chicago press. Piquero, A. R., Oster, R. P., Mazerolle, P., Brame, R., & Dean, C. W. (1999). Onset age and offense specialization. Journal of Research in Crime & Delinquency, 36, 275–299. Sampson, R. J., & Laub, J. H. (1997). A life-course theory of cumulative disadvantage and the stability of delinquency. In T. Thornberry (Ed.), Developmental theories in crime and delinquency (pp. 133–161). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction. Sarnecki, J. (2001). Delinquent networks: Youth cooffending in Stockholm. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Spelman, W. (1994). Criminal incapacitation. New York: Plenum. Zimring, F. E., Kamin, S., & Hawkins, G. (1999). Crime and punishment in California: The impact of three strikes and you’re out. Berkeley: Institute of Governmental Studies Press, University of California.
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Please note that the abstract and keywords will not be included in the printed book, but are required for the online presentation of this book which will be published on Wiley’s own online publishing platform. If the abstract and keywords are not present below, please take this opportunity to add them now. The abstract should be a short paragraph upto 200 words in length and keywords between 5 to 10 words.
ABSTRACT This entry details the theoretical importance of the life-course perspective of criminal behavior. Specifically, the difference between life-course persistent offenders, adolescent limited offenders, static and dynamic risk factors for crime, and the integration of general theories of crime within the criminal careers framework are described. The duration, onset, and specialization of offending within the differential trajectories of offending are discussed. All of these concepts are placed in the context of criminal justice system policy, such as three-strikes and mandatory minimum sentencing, and prevention programming.
KEYWORDS Age; Crime; Deterrence; Deviance and Social Control; Life-Course Criminology; Moffitt, Terrie
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