9 - Criminal Onset

Summary

many studies have shown a correlation between maladaptive behavior and both delinquency in early life and criminality in adulthood (Mitchell and Rosa, 1981; Moore, Chamberlain, and Mukai, 1979; Shannon, 1988; Kempf, 1990; Nagin and Farrington, 1992a, 1992b; Farrington, 1986; see also discussion and review of the literature in Loeber, 1987). Those who exhibit problem behaviors in youth are much more likely to commit crime at a later time.

This raises questions regarding the import of criminal onset and its relation to the extent and type of subsequent offending. These questions are examined here, as is the relationship between time of onset, gender, and employment status.

Some of the previous research concerning onset has looked at whether similar factors explain the characteristics of both onset and persistence in crime. Due to the character of the present study, that question is difficult to examine empirically, but issues surrounding it can nevertheless be discussed.

Time of Onset

It is well known that many commit crime at a very young age. The latest Danish study of self-reported criminality shows that 35% of the primary school students in a Danish county had engaged in delinquency before the age of 12 (Kyvsgaard, 1992a). Many American studies of delinquency provide similar results (Loeber, 1987).

As shown in a Canadian study (Blanc and Fréchette, 1989, p. 78), age at onset based on registered crime will typically be higher than if based on self-reported criminality since individuals are seldom registered until after the minimum age of criminal responsibility.