A LONGITUDINAL PERSPECTIVE ON PATTERNS OF CRIME

This article addresses the possibility of prospectively identfying chronic criminal offenders using identifiers available to the criminal justice system. Data were collected as part of a longitudinal study of the lives of men who were in a delinquency prevention program in the early 1940s. For the half who were randomly assigned to the treatment group, a discriminant function correctly identified 67% of the men as recidivists or nonrecidivists. When tested on the control group, it correctly sorted 76% of the men. The author argues that although prospective identification of recidivists may be possible, legal action based on predictions would be wrong.     

FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS,JUVENILE DELINQUENCY,AND ADULT CRIMINALITY*

Home observations during childhood and criminal records 30 years later are used to address questions of relative impact among features of child rearing influencing male criminal outcomes. The results suggest two mechanisms: Maternal behavior appears to influence juvenile delinquency and, through those effects, adult criminality. Paternal interaction with the family, however, appears to have a more direct influence on the probability of adult criminal behavior.