Criminal careers and "career criminals." Volume I / Alfred Blumstein [and three others], editors ; Panel on Research on Criminal Careers, Committee on Research on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice, Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, National Research Council.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

National Research Council Staff, Corporate Author.

Contributor:

Blumstein, Alfred, editor.

National Research Council (U.S.). Panel on Research on Criminal Careers.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Crime analysis--United States.

Crime analysis.

Criminals--United States.

Criminals.

Criminal behavior, Prediction of.

Criminal statistics--United States.

Criminal statistics.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (474 pages) : illustrations

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Washington, District of Columbia : National Academy Press, 1986.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

By focusing attention on individuals rather than on aggregates, this book takes a novel approach to studying criminal behavior. It develops a framework for collecting information about individual criminal careers and their parameters, reviews existing knowledge about criminal career dimensions, presents models of offending patterns, and describes how criminal career information can be used to develop and refine criminal justice policies. In addition, an agenda for future research on criminal careers is presented.

Contents:

Criminal Careers and "Career Criminals":

Copyright

Contents

Preface

Criminal Careers and "Career Criminals

Summary

THE CRIMINAL CAREER APPROACH

FINDINGS ON CRIMINAL CAREERS

Participation in Offending

Measures of Participation

Risk Factors in Criminal Participation

Individual Frequencies for Active Offenders

Overall Rates

Demographic Differences in λ

Other Factors Related to λ

Trends in Seriousness

Career Length

USE OF CRIMINAL CAREER INFORMATION IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE DECISION MAKING

Career Modification

Incapacitation

PREDICTION-BASED CLASSIFICATION RULES

Existing Decision Practices

Ethical Limitations

Methodological Issues

Specific Classification Rules

Record-Keeping Implications

AN AGENDA FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

1 Introduction: Studying Criminal Careers

THE CRIMINAL CAREERS CONCEPT

CRIME CONTROL POLICIES

Knowledge for Policy

Classification of Offenders

Ethical Considerations

DIMENSIONS OF CRIMINAL CAREERS

Participation

Individual Frequency Rates, Seriousness, and Duration

Basic Definitions and Symbols

Basic Model of a Criminal Career

Extensions of the Basic Model

USING THE CRIMINAL CAREER PARADIGM

Interpreting Aggregate Crime Rates

Demographic Correlates of Criminal Careers

Incapacitation, Rehabilitation, and Deterrence

SCOPE OF THE PANEL'S REPORT

2 Participation in Criminal Careers

STUDY DESIGNS AND PARTICIPATION ESTIMATES

PARTICIPATION AMONG MALES

Official-Record Estimates

Self-Report Estimates

PARTICIPATION ESTIMATES BY SEX, RACE, AND AGE

Sex

Race

Age

OTHER FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH PARTICIPATION

Family Influences

Parenting

Parental Criminality

Family Disruption

Family Size and Structure

Early Antisocial Behavior

Social Class

School Performance and Intelligence.

Substance Abuse

Employment

Peer Group Influences

SUMMARY

3 Dimensions of Active Criminal Careers

INDIVIDUAL FREQUENCY RATES

Arrest Frequencies (μ) by Crime Type

Offending Frequencies (λ) By Crime Type

Inferring λ from μ

The Rand Inmate Surveys

National Youth Survey

Estimates of λ

Variations in λ by Sex, Age, and Race

Other Factors Associated with Variations in Frequency Rates

Age at Onset of Criminal Activity

Drug Use

Previous Criminal Involvement

SERIOUSNESS

Types of Studies

Changes in Offense Mix

General Offense-Switching Patterns

Offense Clusters

Specialization

Offense Type

Escalation

TERMINATION AND LENGTH OF CRIMINAL CAREERS

Persistence by Delinquents into Adult Careers

Measuring Career Length by Number of Arrests

Measuring Career Length in Years

CONCLUSION

4 Methodological Issues in Criminal Career Research

OBSERVATIONAL APPROACHES: SELF-REPORTS AND OFFICIAL RECORDS

Self-Reports

Official Records

Potential for Synthesis of Observational Methods

SAMPLING ISSUES

USE OF COHORT AND CROSS-SECTIONAL DATA

PROBLEMS OF CONFOUNDED EFFECTS

EXPLICIT MODELS OF OFFENDING

5 Crime Control Strategies Using Criminal Career Knowledge

STRATEGIES TO PREVENT PARTICIPATION

Experimental Evaluations of Preventive Interventions

Interventions with the Family

Preschool Programs

Other Interventions

Summary: Preventive Interventions

CAREER MODIFICATION STRATEGIES

Career Modification: Community-Based and Family Treatment Programs

Juveniles

Adults

Summary: Community-Based and Family Treatment Programs

Career Modification: Substance Abuse Treatment

Career Modification: Interventions to Improve Employment Status.

Occupational Skills Training: Job Corps

Postprison Assistance

INCAPACITATION STRATEGIES

Collective Incapacitation

Selective Incapacitation

Ethical Concerns

Sentences Based on Offender Characteristics: The Rand Inmate Survey Scale

Parole Release Based on Offender Characteristics: The Salient Factor Score

Charge-Based Sentencing Policies

Operational Issues in Assessing Alternative Selective Incapacitation Policies

Summary: Incapacitation Strategies

TECHNICAL NOTE

A Model of Incapacitation

Applying the Model to Estimate the Effects of a Collective Incapacitation Policy

Applying the Model to Estimate the Effects of a Selective Incapacitation Policy

6 Use of Criminal Career Information in Criminal Justice Decision Making

INTRODUCTION

CRIMINAL CAREER PERSPECTIVES IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE DECISION MAKING

Police Decisions

Prosecution

Decision Making in the Absence of Career Criminal Units

Career Criminal Unit Evaluations

Pretrial Release

Sentencing

Parole Release

CONCLUSIONS

ISSUES IN PREDICTION-BASED CLASSIFICATION

Introduction

Ethical Issues

Ethical Considerations in Selecting Candidate Risk Factors

Developing Classification Rules

Defining the Criterion Variable

Selecting and Weighting Variables

Defining the Classification Rule

Validating-The Predictive Relationship

Issues in Transferring Classification Rules

EXPLICIT CLASSIFICATION SCALES

Rand Inmate Survey Scale

Salient Factor Score

Iowa Risk Assessment Instrument

Proposed Inslaw Scale

ADULT, JUVENILE, AND NON-JUSTICE SYSTEM RECORDS AND THEIR INTEGRATION

Adult Records

Juvenile Records

Other Records

7 An Agenda for Future Research

BACKGROUND

A LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF CRIMINAL CAREERS

SPECIFIC RESEARCH QUESTIONS.

Research on Intervention Strategies

Preventive Interventions

Career Modification Strategies

Individual Deterrent Effects

Measurement of Criminal Career Dimensions and Their Correlates

Individual Crime Rates

Group Offending

New Directions in Measurement and Modeling

SUPPORTIVE ORGANIZATIONAL ARRANGEMENTS

Continuation and Expansion of the Crime Control Theory Program

Criminal Career Data Repository

Appendix A Participation in Criminal Careers

Obstacles to the Understanding and Measurement of Pervasiveness

Importance of Participation

A Conceptual Framework for Offender Participation

ESTIMATES OF CRIMINAL PARTICIPATION

Background

Scope of Literature Review

Types of Studies and Data Sources

Estimates of Criminal Participation by Age 18

The Philadelphia Cohorts

Other U.S. Longitudinal Studies

U.S. Life-Table Analyses

Analyses of Multiple Data Bases

British Studies

Criminal Participation by Older Ages, Including Lifetime

U.S. Arrest Projections

U.S. Longitudinal Studies

Foreign Studies

Criminal Participation by High School Age

Self-Report Studies

Official-Record Studies

Current Participation Rates

Youth-In-Transition Project

Self-Reports by Cross-Section Samples

Summary of Participation Estimates

Participation by Age 18

Lifetime Participation

FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH PARTICIPATION

Sex and Participation

Race and Participation

Age and Participation

Other Factors Associated with Participation

Socioeconomic Status

Family Structure and Disruptions

Other Family Influences

Family Members' Criminal Behavior

School Performance and Intelligence

Miscellaneous Attributes.

CONCLUSION

Appendix B Research On Criminal Careers: Individual Frequency Rates and Offense Seriousness

INDIVIDUAL OFFENDING FREQUENCIES FOR ACTIVE OFFENDERS

Distinguishing Individual Frequency Rates from Aggregate Incidence Rates

Review of Estimates of Individual Frequency Rates

Estimating λ from Self-Reports: The Rand Inmate Surveys

Estimating Individual Frequency Rates from Arrest Histories

Alternative Estimates of Individual Offending Frequencies

Methodological Issues in Estimating Individual Frequency Rates

Biases in Offender Samples: Differences in Sampling Probabilities

Biases in Offender Samples: The Problem of Low Response Rates to Self-Report Surveys

Obtaining Valid Frequency Estimates from Self-Reports

Obtaining Valid Frequency Estimates from Official Records

Measurement Problems in Developing Individual Frequency Estimates

A Sampling Strategy for Detecting High-Rate Offenders

Explicit Behavioral Models of Offending

OFFENSE SERIOUSNESS DURING CRIMINAL CAREERS

Review of Empirical Research

Early U.S. Studies

Analyses Using Transition Matrices

Methodological Issues in Analyzing Offense Seriousness

Requirement for Large Sample Size

Reliance on Official Records

Biases Associated with Sample Selection

Role of Frequency Rates, Career Length, and Incapacitation in Switching Patterns

Alternatives to Simple Markov Models

Appendix C Workshop on Research on Criminal Careers: Program and Participants

Appendix D Biographical Sketches, Panel Members and Staff

References

Index.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed June 4, 2014).

ISBN:

1-280-22180-1

9786610221806

0-309-55487-X

0-585-11950-3

OCLC:

940510395