Boyhood Behaviour Problems as Precursors of Criminality - A Fifteen-Year Follow-up Study

• NCJ Number: 79959
• Journal: Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry Volume: 22 Issue: 1 Dated: (1980) Pages: 19-33
• Author(s): S Mitchell; P Rosa
• Date Published: 1980
• Length: 15 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

A British 15-year followup study of a group of boys with behavior problems compared to a more normal control group concludes that those in the deviator group were more likely to become offenders and recidivists than those in the control group.

Abstract

A large-scale sample survey of all school children in Buckinghamshire, England, in 1961 was designed to obtain information about children's behavior as perceived by their parents and teachers. This study examines subsequent convictions of those boys who were seen by their parents as particularly problematic and compares them with a matched group of nonproblematic children in order to explore the extent to which parental reports distinguish, in advance, between those who subsequently appear in court and those who do not. This study extends the time to mid-1976, when the youngest of the original sample was at least 20 years old. The criminal data refer to all indictable offenses in England and Wales. A total of 10 percent of the boys in the original 1961 sample who had the highest deviation scores ('deviators') are compared with a control group of boys whose deviation scores were low. Out of the 321 matched pairs, data show that approximately 1 in 5 of the deviators had been convicted of at least 1 offense, compared to 1 in 11 of the controls. The deviator group were more likely to have been convicted of theft, damage to property, violence towards persons, and fraud. They were not more likely to have been convicted in cases involving drugs, drink, or sexual offenses. Offenders from the original deviator group were also more likely than those from among the controls to appear in court on several occasions. The study found that qualitatively, parental reports of antisocial behavior were shown to predict with considerable accuracy future convictions, particularly where teachers' reports supported those of the parents. The practical and theoretical implications of the study are discussed. Tables, footnotes, and 12 references are supplied. (Author summary modified)