Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-02T18:55:02.879Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Can they recover? An assessment of adult adjustment problems among males in the abstainer, recovery, life-course persistent, and adolescence-limited pathways followed up to age 56 in the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 2015

Wesley G. Jennings*
Affiliation:
University of South Florida
Michael Rocque
Affiliation:
Bates College
Bryanna Hahn Fox
Affiliation:
University of South Florida
Alex R. Piquero
Affiliation:
University of Texas at Dallas
David P. Farrington
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Wesley G. Jennings, Department of Criminology, College of Behavioral & Community Sciences, SOC 309, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620; E-mail: [email protected].

Abstract

Much research has examined Moffitt's developmental taxonomy, focusing almost exclusively on the distinction between life-course persistent and adolescence-limited offenders. Of interest, a handful of studies have identified a group of individuals whose early childhood years were marked by extensive antisocial behavior but who seemed to recover and desist (at least from severe offending) in adolescence and early adulthood. We use data from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development to examine the adult adjustment outcomes of different groups of offenders, including a recoveries group, in late middle adulthood, offering the most comprehensive investigation of this particular group to date. Findings indicate that abstainers comprise the largest group of males followed by adolescence-limited offenders, recoveries, and life-course persistent offenders. Furthermore, the results reveal that a host of adult adjustment problems measured at ages 32 and 48 in a number of life-course domains are differentially distributed across these four offender groups. In addition, the recoveries and life-course persistent offenders often show the greatest number of adult adjustment problems relative to the adolescence-limited offenders and abstainers.

Type
Regular Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Barnes, J. C., Beaver, K. M., & Piquero, A. R. (2011). A test of Moffitt's hypotheses of delinquency abstention. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 38, 690709.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blokland, A. A., Nagin, D., & Nieuwbeerta, P. (2005). Life span offending trajectories of a Dutch conviction cohort. Criminology, 43, 919954.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blumstein, A., Cohen, J., Roth, J. A., & Visher, C. (Eds.). (1986). Criminal careers and “career criminals” (Vol. 2). Washington, DC: National Academies Press.Google Scholar
Chen, X., & Adams, M. (2010). Are teen delinquency abstainers social introverts? A test of Moffitt's theory. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 47, 439468.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, M. A., Piquero, A. R., & Jennings, W. G. (2010). Estimating the costs of bad outcomes for at-risk youth and the benefits of early childhood interventions to reduce them. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 21, 391434.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cullen, F. T. (2011). Beyond adolescence-limited criminology: Choosing our future—The American Society of Criminology 2010 Sutherland Address. Criminology, 49, 287330.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ezell, M. E., & Cohen, L. E. (2005). Desisting from crime: Continuity and change in long-term crime patterns of serious chronic offenders. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Farrington, D. P. (1992). Criminal career research in the United Kingdom. British Journal of Criminology, 32, 521536.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farrington, D. P. (1995). The development of offending and antisocial behaviour from childhood: Key findings from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 36, 929964.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Farrington, D. P. (2003a). Developmental and life-course criminology: Key theoretical and empirical issues—The 2002 Sutherland Award Address. Criminology, 41, 221256.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farrington, D. P. (2003b). Key results from the first 40 years of the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development. In Thornberry, T. P. & Krohn, M. D. (Eds.), Taking stock of delinquency: An overview of findings from contemporary longitudinal studies (pp. 137183). New York: Kluwer/Plenum Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farrington, D. P. (2005). The importance of child and adolescent psychopathy. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 33, 489497.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Farrington, D. P. (2006). Family background and psychopathy. In Patrick, C. J. (Ed.), Handbook of psychopathy (pp. 229250). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Farrington, D. P. (2007). Social origins of psychopathy. In Felthous, A. & Sass, H. (Eds.), The international handbook of psychopathic disorders and the law (pp. 319334). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.Google Scholar
Farrington, D. P., Coid, J. W., Harnett, L., Jolliffe, D., Soteriou, N., Turner, R., et al. (2006). Criminal careers up to age 50 and life success up to age 48: New findings from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development (Research Study 299). London: Home Office.Google Scholar
Farrington, D. P., Coid, J. W., & West, D. J. (2009). The development of offending from age 8 to age 50: Recent results from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development. Monatsschrift fur Kriminologie und Strafrechtsreform (Journal of Criminology and Penal Reform) , 92, 160173.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farrington, D. P., Gallagher, B., Morley, L., & St. Ledger, R. J. (1988). Are there any successful men from criminogenic backgrounds? Psychiatry: Interpersonal and Biological Processes, 51, 116130.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Farrington, D. P., Gallagher, B., Morley, L., St. Ledger, R. J., & West, D. J. (1988). A 24-year-old follow-up of men from vulnerable backgrounds. In Jenkins, R. L. & Brown, W. K. (Eds.), The abandonment of delinquent behaviour (pp. 155173). New York: Praeger.Google Scholar
Farrington, D. P., Piquero, A. R., & Jennings, W. G. (2013). Offending from childhood to late middle age: Recent results from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development. New York: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gibbons, D. C. (1975). Offender typologies—Two decades later. British Journal of Criminology, 15, 140156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glueck, S., & Glueck, E. (1937). Later criminal careers. New York: Commonwealth Fund.Google Scholar
Glueck, S., & Glueck, E. (1950). Unraveling juvenile delinquency. New York: Commonwealth Fund.Google Scholar
Goldberg, D. (1978). Manual of the General Health Questionnaire. Windsor: NFER–Nelson.Google Scholar
Gottfredson, M. R., & Hirschi, T. (1986). The true value of lambda would appear to be zero: An essay on career criminals, criminal careers, selective incapacitation, cohort studies, and related topics. Criminology, 24, 213234.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gottfredson, M. R., & Hirschi, T. (1987). The methodological adequacy of longitudinal research on crime. Criminology, 25, 581614.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hart, S. D., Cox, D. N., & Hare, R. D. (1995). The Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Screening version. Toronto: Multi-Health Systems.Google Scholar
Hare, R. D. (1991). The Hare Psychopathy Checklist—Revised (PCL-R). Toronto: Multi-Health Systems.Google Scholar
Hare, R. D. (2003). Manual for the Revised Psychopathy Checklist (2nd ed.). Toronto: Multi- Health Systems.Google Scholar
Hawkins, J. D., Kosterman, R., Catalano, R. F., Hill, K. G., & Abbott, R. D. (2005). Promoting positive adult functioning through social development intervention in childhood: Long-term effects from the Seattle Social Development Project. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 159, 2531.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hirschi, T., & Gottfredson, M. R. (1983). Age and the explanation of crime. American Journal of Sociology, 89, 552584.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jennings, W. G., & Reingle, J. (2012). On the number and shape of developmental/life-course violence, aggression, and delinquency trajectories: A state-of-the-art review. Journal of Criminal Justice, 40, 472489.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Landenberger, N. A., & Lipsey, M. (2005). The positive effects of cognitive-behavioral programs for offenders: A meta-analysis of factors associated with effective treatment. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 1, 451476.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laub, J. H., & Sampson, R. J. (2003). Shared beginnings, divergent lives: Delinquent boys to age 70. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
McCord, J. (1978). A thirty-year follow-up of treatment effects. American Psychologist, 33, 284289.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moffitt, T. E. (1993). Adolescence-limited and life-course persistent antisocial behavior: A developmental taxonomy. Psychological Review, 100, 674701.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moffitt, T. E. (1997). Adolescence-limited and life-course persistent offending: A complementary pair of developmental theories. In Thornberry, T. (Ed.), Developmental theories of crime and delinquency (pp. 1154). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.Google Scholar
Moffitt, T. E. (2006). Life-course persistent versus adolescence-limited antisocial behavior. In Cicchetti, D. & Cohen, D. J. (Eds.), Developmental psychopathology: Vol. 3. Risk, disorder, and adaptation (pp. 570598). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.Google Scholar
Moffitt, T. E., & Caspi, A. (2001). Childhood predictors differentiate life-course persistent and adolescence-limited antisocial pathways among males and females. Development and Psychopathology, 13, 355375.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moffitt, T. E., Caspi, A., Dickson, N., Silva, P., & Stanton, W. (1996). Childhood-onset versus adolescent-onset antisocial conduct problems in males: Natural history from ages 3 to 18 years. Development and Psychopathology, 8, 399424.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moffitt, T. E., Caspi, A., Harrington, H., & Milne, B. J. (2002). Males on the life-course persistent and adolescence-limited antisocial pathways: Follow-up at age 26 years. Development and Psychopathology, 14, 179207.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moynihan, M. (1968). Social mimicry: Character convergence versus character displacement. Evolution, 22, 315331.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nagin, D. S. (2005). Group-based modeling of development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nagin, D. S., Farrington, D. P., & Moffitt, T. E. (1995). Life-course trajectories of different types of offenders. Criminology, 33, 111140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patterson, G. R. (1996). Some characteristics of a developmental theory for early-onset delinquency. In Lenzenweger, M. F. (Ed.), Frontiers of developmental psychopathology (pp. 81124). New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patterson, G. R., DeBaryshe, B., & Ramsey, E. (1990). A developmental perspective on antisocial behavior. American Psychologist, 44, 329335.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patterson, G. R., & Yoerger, K. (1993). Developmental models for delinquent behavior. In Hodgins, S. (Ed.), Mental disorder and crime (pp. 140172). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Patterson, G. R., & Yoerger, K. (1997). A developmental model for late-onset delinquency. In Osgood, D. W. (Ed.), Motivation and delinquency (pp. 119177). Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.Google Scholar
Patterson, G. R., & Yoerger, K. (2002). A developmental model for early- and late-onset antisocial behavior. In Reid, J. B., Snyder, J., & Patterson, G. R. (Eds.), Antisocial behavior in children and adolescents: A developmental analysis and model for intervention (pp. 147172). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.Google Scholar
Piquero, A. R. (2008). Taking stock of developmental trajectories of criminal activity over the life course. In Liberman, A. (Ed.), The long view of crime: A synthesis of longitudinal research (pp. 2378). New York: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Piquero, A. R., Brezina, T., & Turner, M. G. (2005). Testing Moffitt's account of delinquency abstention. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 42, 2754.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Piquero, A. R., Farrington, D. P., & Blumstein, A. (2003). The criminal career paradigm. In Tonry, M. (Ed.), Crime and justice: A review of research (Vol. 30, pp. 359506). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
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.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Piquero, A. R., Farrington, D. P., Fontaine, N., Vincent, G., Coid, J., & Ullrich, S. (2012). Childhood risk, offending trajectories and psychopathy at age 48 years in the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 18, 577598.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Piquero, A. R., Farrington, D. P., Nagin, D. S., & Moffitt, T. E. (2010). Trajectories of offending and their relation to life failure in late middle age: Findings from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development. Journal of Research in Crime & Delinquency, 47, 151173.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Piquero, A. R., Farrington, D. P., Welsh, B .C., Tremblay, R., & Jennings, W. G. (2009). Effects of early family/parent training programs on antisocial behavior and delinquency. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 5, 83120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Piquero, A. R., Jennings, W. G., & Farrington, D. P. (2010). On the malleability of self-control: Theoretical and policy implications regarding a general theory of crime. Justice Quarterly, 27, 803834.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Piquero, A. R., & Moffitt, T. E. (2005). Explaining the facts of crime: How the developmental taxonomy replies to Farrington's invitation. In Farrington, D. P. (Ed.), Integrated developmental & life-course theories of offending: Advances in criminological theory (pp. 5172). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.Google Scholar
Robins, L. S. (1966). Deviant children grown up. Baltimore, MD: Williams & Wilkins.Google Scholar
Robins, L. N. (1978). Sturdy childhood predictors of adult antisocial behavior: Replications from longitudinal studies. Psychological Medicine, 8, 611622.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rocque, M. (2014). The lost concept: The (re)emerging link between maturation and desistance from crime. Criminology and Criminal Justice. Advance online publication.Google Scholar
Sampson, R. J., & Laub, J. H. (1993). Crime in the making: Pathways and turning points through life. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, C., Lizotte, A. J., Thornberry, T. P., & Krohn, M. D. (1995). Resilient youth: Identifying factors that prevent high-risk youth from engaging in delinquency and drug use. Current Perspectives on Aging and the Life Course, 4, 217247.Google Scholar
Straus, M. A. (1990). The Conflict Tactics Scales and its critics: An evaluation and new data on validity and reliability. In Straus, M. A. & Gelles, R. J. (Eds.), Physical violence in American families: Risk factors and adaptations to violence in 8,145 families (pp. 4973). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.Google Scholar
Sweeten, G., Piquero, A. R., & Steinberg, L. (2013). Age and the explanation of crime revisited. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 42, 921938.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tracy, P. E., & Kempf-Leonard, K. (1996). Continuity and discontinuity in criminal careers. New York: Plenum Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tracy, P. E., Wolfgang, M. E., & Figlio, R. M. (1990). Delinquency in two birth cohorts. New York: Plenum Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Werner, E. E. (1989). Vulnerable, but invincible. New York: Adams, Bannister, and Cox.Google Scholar
Werner, E. E., & Smith, R. S. (1992). Overcoming the odds: High-risk children from birth to adulthood. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
West, D. J., & Farrington, D. P. (1973). Who becomes delinquent? London: Heinemann.Google Scholar
White, H. R, Bates, M. E., & Buyske, S. (2001). Adolescence-limited versus persistent delinquency: Extending Moffitt's hypothesis into adulthood. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 110, 600609.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wolfgang, M. E., Figlio, R. M., & Sellin, T. (1972) Delinquency in a birth cohort. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar