In this paper , we discuss the theory and research on a select set of risk factors for continuity in antisocial behavior across the transition to adulthood. Several risk factors (e.g., early onset, intelligence, marriage, employment) are based on Moffitt’s dual taxonomy and the age-graded theory of social control. In addi tion, we also review studies of impulsivity, school enrollment, educational attainment, academic achieve ment, abuse victimization, social support, poverty, deviant peers, drug and alcohol abuse, and criminal justice intervention.
KeywordsTransition to AdulthoodRisk FactorsAntisocial BehaviorCrimeMarriage
Arum, R., & Beattie, I. (1999). High school experience and the risk of adult incarceration. Criminology, 37, 515-539. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.1999.tb00495.x
Ayers, C. D., Williams, J. H., Hawkins, J. D., Peterson, P. L., Catalano, R. F., & Abbott, R. D. (1999). Assessing correlates of onset, escalation, deescalation, and desistance of delinquent behavior. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 15, 277-306. doi:10.1023/A:1007576431270
Benda, B. B., Corwyn, R. F., & Toombs, N. J. (2001). Recidivism among adolescent serious offenders: Prediction of entry into the correctional system for adults. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 28, 588- 613. doi:10.1177/009385480102800503
Blokland, A. (2005). Crime over the lifespan: Trajectories of criminal behavior in Dutch offenders. Leiden, Netherlands: Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement.
Bui, H. N., & Morash, M. (2010). The impact of network relationships, prison experiences, and internal transformation on women’s success after prison release. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 49, 1-22. doi:10.1080/10509670903435381
Cohen, P., Kasen, S., Smailes, E., & Fagan, J. (2002). Childhood antecedents of adolescent and adult crime and violence, final report (Grant Number 1999-IJ-CX-0029). Washington DC: National Institute of Justice.
Cottle, C. C., Lee, R. J., & Heilbrun, K. (2001). The prediction of criminal recidivism in juveniles: A meta-analysis. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 28, 367-394. doi:10.1177/0093854801028003005
Cullen, F. T., & Wright, J. P. (1997). Liberating the anomie-strain paradigm: Implications from social support theory. In N. Passas, & R. Agnew (Eds.), The future of anomie theory (pp. 187-206). Boston, MA: Northeastern University Press.
DeLisi, M., & Vaughn, M. G. (2008). The Gottfredson-Hirschi critiques revisited: Reconciling self-control theory, criminal careers, and career criminals. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 52, 520-537. doi:10.1177/0306624X07308553
Ellis, S., & Savage, J. (2009). Strain, social support and persistent criminality. In J. Savage (Ed.), The development of persistent criminality (pp. 71-89). New York: Oxford University Press, Inc. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195310313.003.0004
Farrington, D. P. (2000). Psychosocial predictors of adult antisocial personality and adult convictions. Behavior Sciences & the Law, 18, 605-622. doi:10.1002/1099-0798(200010)18:5 3.0.CO;2-0
Farrington, D. P., & West, D. J. (1995). Effects of marriage, separation and children on offending by adult males. In Z. S. Blau, & J. Hagan (Eds.), Current perspectives on aging and the life cycle: Vol. 4. Delinquency and disrepute in the life course (pp. 249-281). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
Fergusson, D. M., Horwood, L. J., & Nagin, D. S. (2000). Offending trajectories in a New Zealand birth cohort. Criminology, 38, 525-552. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.2000.tb00898.x
Gottfredson, M., & Hirschi, T. (1990). A general theory of crime. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Hirschi, T. (1969). Causes of delinquency. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Hoeve, M., Smeenk, W., Loeber, R., Stouthamer-Loeber, M., van der Laan, P. H., Gerris, J. R. M., & Dubas, J. S. (2007). Long-term effects of parenting and family characteristics on delinquency of male young adults. European Journal of Criminology, 4, 161-194. doi:10.1177/1477370807074854
Horney, J., Osgood, D. W., & Marshall, I. H. (1995). Criminal careers in the short-term: Intra-individual variability in crime and its relation to local life circumstances. American Sociological Review, 60, 655- 673. doi:10.2307/2096316
Hussong, A. M., Curran, P. J., Moffitt, T. E., Caspi, A., & Carrig, M. M. (2004). Substance abuse hinders desistance in young adult’s antisocial behavior. Development and Psychopathology, 16, 1029-1046. doi:10.1017/S095457940404012X
Johnson, W., McGue, M., & Iacono, W. G. (2009). School performance and genetic and environmental variance in antisocial behavior at the transition from adolescence to adulthood. Developmental Psychology, 45, 973-987. doi:10.1037/a0016225
King, R. D., Massoglia, M., & MacMillan, R. (2007). The context of marriage and crime: Gender, the propensity to marry, and offending in early adulthood. Criminology, 45, 33-66. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.2007.00071.x
Lahey, B. B., & Loeber, R. (1997). Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, and adult antisocial behavior: A life span perspective. In D. M. Stoff, J. Breiling, & J. D. Maser (Eds.), Handbook of antisocial behavior (pp. 51-59). New York: John Wiley.
Laub, J. H., Nagin, D. S., & Sampson, R. J. (1998). Trajectories of change in criminal offending: Good marriages and the desistance process. American Sociological Review, 63, 225-238. doi:10.2307/2657324
Laub, J. H., & Sampson, R. J. (1993). Turning points in the life course: Why change matters to the study of crime. Criminology, 31, 301- 326. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.1993.tb01132.x
Laub, J. H., & Sampson, R. J. (2003). Shared beginnings, divergent lives: Delinquent boys to age 70. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
McGloin, J. M, & Stickle, W. P. (2011). Influence or convenience? Disentangling peer influence and co-offending for chronic offenders. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 48, 419-447. doi:10.1177/0022427810393019
Moffitt, T. E. (1993). Adolescence-limited and life-course-persistent antisocial behavior: A developmental taxonomy. Psychological Review, 100, 674-701. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.100.4.674
Moffitt, T. E. (2003). Life-course-persistent and adolescence-limited antisocial behavior: A 10-year research review and a research agenda. In B. B. Lahey, T. E. Moffitt, & A. Caspi (Eds.), Causes of conduct disorder and juvenile delinquency (pp. 49-75). New York: Guilford.
Moffitt, T. E. (2006a). A review of research on the taxonomy of life- course persistent versus adolescence-limited antisocial behavior. In F. T. Cullen, J. P. Wright, & K. Belvins (Eds.) Taking stock: The status of criminological theory: Vol. 15 (pp. 277-311). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
Moffitt, T. E. (2006b). Life-course persistent versus adolescence-limited antisocial behavior. In D. Cicchetti, & D. Cohen (Eds.), Developmental psychopathology: Vol. 3. Risk, disorder and adaptation (pp. 570-598). New York: Wiley.
Morizot, J., & Le Blanc, M. (2003). Continuity and change in personality traits from adolescence to midlife: A 25-year longitudinal study comparing representative and adjudicated men. Journal of Personality, 71, 705-755. doi:10.1111/1467-6494.7105002
Pagani, L. S. (2009). The influence of family context on the development and persistence of antisocial behavior. In J. Savage (Ed.), The development of persistent criminality (pp. 37-53). New York: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195310313.003.0002
Patterson, G. R., Reid, J. B., & Dishion, T. J. (1992). A social learning approach: Vol. 4. Antisocial boys. Eugene, OR: Castalia.
Piquero, A. R., Farrington, D. P., & Blumstein, A. (2007). Key issues in criminal career research: New analyses of the Cambridge study in delinquent development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511499494
Pratt, T. C., & Cullen, F. T. (2000). The empirical status of Gottfredson and Hirschi’s general theory of crime: A meta-analysis. Criminology, 38, 931-964. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.2000.tb00911.x
Raine, A., Loeber, R., Stouthamer-Loeber, M., Moffitt, T. E., Caspi, A., & Lynam, D. (2005). Neurocognitive impairments in boys on the life-course persistent antisocial path. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 114, 38-49. doi:10.1037/0021-843X.114.1.38
Robins, L. (1966). Deviant children grown up. Baltimore, MD: Williams & Wilkins.
Sampson, R. J., & Laub, J. H. (1993). Crime in the making: Pathways and turning points through life. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Sampson, R. J., Laub, J. H., & Wimer, C. (2006). Does marriage reduce crime? A counterfactual approach to within individual causal effects. Criminology, 44, 465-508. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.2006.00055.x
Savage, J. (2009). Understanding persistent offending: Linking developmental psychology with research on the criminal career. In J. Savage (Ed.), The development of persistent criminality (pp. 3-36). New York: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195310313.001.0001
Schroeder, R. D., Giordano, P. C., & Cernkovich, S. A. (2007). Drug use and desistance processes. Criminology, 45, 191-222. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.2007.00076.x
Stouthamer-Loeber, M., Wei, E., Loeber, R., & Masten, A. S. (2004). Desistance from persistent serious delinquency in the transition to adulthood. Development and Psychopathology, 16, 897-918. doi:10.1017/S0954579404040064
Theobald, D., & Farrington, D. P. (2009). Effects of getting married on offending. European Journal of Criminology, 6, 496-516. doi:10.1177/1477370809341226
Thornberry, T. P., Henry, K. L., Ireland, T. O., & Smith, C. A. (2010). The causal impact of childhood-limited maltreatment and adolescent maltreatment on early adult adjustment. Journal of Adolescent Health, 46, 359-365. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2009.09.011
Vila, B. (1994). A general paradigm for understanding criminal behavior: Extending evolutionary ecological theory. Criminology, 32, 311-359. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.1994.tb01157.x
Warr, M. (1998). Life-course transitions and desistance from crime. Criminology, 36, 183-216. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.1998.tb01246.x
Werner, E. E., & Smith, R. S. (1992). Overcoming the odds: High risk children from birth to adulthood. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Widom, C. S. (1989). Child abuse, neglect, and violent criminal behavior. Criminology, 27, 251-271. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.1989.tb01032.x
Wiesner, M., & Windle, M. (2004). Assessing covariates of adolescent delinquency trajectories: A latent growth mixture. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 33, 431-442. doi:10.1023/B:JOYO.0000037635.06937.13
Wright, B. R. E., Caspi, A., Moffitt, T. E., & Silva, P. A. (2001). The effects of social ties on crime vary by criminal propensity: A life-course model of interdependence. Criminology, 39, 321-351. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.2001.tb00925.x