NCJ Number
216678
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 34 Issue: 5 Dated: September-October 2006 Pages: 531-541
Date Published
September 2006
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This study estimated the extent to which age of first arrest predicted future violent and gun offending among a contemporary cohort of arrestees.
Abstract
In accord with the findings of previous studies, the current study found a consistent relationship between the age of onset for first arrest and subsequent violent and gun offenses. The link between early arrest and serious violent behavior and gun offending persisted once gender, race, and the seriousness of the first offense were controlled. An early arrest was related to more than a twofold increase in the prevalence of later violence and gun offending among males, holding all else constant. The focus on violent crime and firearms offending is a class of crime that had not been examined in previous research. Offenders under 14 years old were particularly prone to become involved in subsequent violent and firearms offenses compared to their adolescent peers. A limitation of the dataset was the lack of self-report data to estimate participation and frequency of offending that is not captured by the criminal justice system. A total of 1,159 arrestees born in 1979 were included in the analysis. Individuals were between 10 and 19 years old during the study period. The sample included males and female (71 and 29 percent, respectively). The sample was evenly distributed by race, with 51 percent White and 49 percent African-American. Early onset was defined as official contact with police prior to age 14. Later offending patterns were determined from official arrest histories. Demographic characteristics were included as control variables in estimating the impact of early onset on later violent outcomes. 4 notes and 51 references