Adolescent Crime: Individual Differences and Lifestyles

• NCJ Number: 216428
• Author(s): Per-Olof H. Wikstrom; David A. Butterworth
• Date Published: 2006
• Length: 302 pages
• Sale Source: Willan Publishing
• Publication Format: Book (Hardbound)
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This book presents key findings from the Peterborough Youth Study (PYS) in the United Kingdom (UK), which focused on the role of individual differences and lifestyle in the explanation of juvenile offending.

Abstract

The analysis indicates that juvenile offending behavior is closely linked to their individual characteristics, their lifestyles, and the interaction between the two. Specifically, the key findings indicate that less serious types of juvenile offending is a widespread but not a normal experience in adolescence and that high-frequency juvenile offenders are versatile in their offending patterns but generally include the commission of serious crimes. The findings also reveal that juvenile offenders spend only a marginal amount of time offending and are likely to be victimized by others. Other findings indicate that gender and family structure characteristics have only modest impact on juvenile offending behavior, whereas social class and neighborhood disadvantage do not significantly impact juvenile offending. On the other hand, strong predictors of juvenile offending were identified as youths’ social situations, youths’ individual routines and related lifestyle risks, and high school truancy levels. The findings suggest that crime prevention strategies should target different groups of offenders in terms of their backgrounds and the circumstances of their criminality. The study sought to provide a snapshot in the lives of 14- to 15-year-old adolescents in terms of their individual characteristics and their involvement in crime in a medium-sized UK city. The study employed a cross-sectional survey of 2,118 juveniles in Year 10 at 13 Peterborough State schools as well as space and time-budget interviews concerning the previous weeks’ activities conducted with a random sample of 409 students from the survey study. The survey and the interviews focused on various measures of social bonds, morality, self-control, delinquent peer associations, substance use, risky behaviors, family social position, neighborhood type, and school context. The key research question focused on whether the impact of lifestyle on juvenile offending was dependent on an individual’s characteristics. Tables, figures, appendixes, references, index