NCJ Number
96012
Date Published
1984
Length
45 pages
Annotation
Delinquency was investigated in a 1958 birth cohort consisting of 13,160 males. Data for analysis were gathered from schools, police, and the juvenile court.
Abstract
About a third of the subjects had police contact before the age of 18. About 42 percent of the nonwhite subjects were delinquent, as compared to 23 percent of whites. Socioeconomic status also showed a relationship with delinquency. Compared to their nondelinquent peers, delinquents showed more residential instability, exhibited lower scholastic achievement, and completed fewer years of school. Forty-two percent of the delinquents were one-time offenders, 35 percent were nonchronic recidivists, and 23 percent were chronic recidivists. Compared to other offenders, one-time offenders moved less often, had high achievement scores, completed more school, and were less likely to have been disciplinary problems in school. The cohort was responsible for 15,248 delinquent acts up to age 18, of which 455 were Index Offenses. Chronic recidivists accounted for 61 percent of all offenses. Age of onset ranged from 7 to 17, with the largest percentage of offenders becoming involved between ages 10 and 14. Age of onset was inversely related to the mean number of offenses, but was only moderately related to severity of offense. Some evidence showed an escalating pattern of repeated offenses, and there was evidence of specialization for some types of crime. A number of relations were found among offender and offense characteristics, prior history and dispositions, and disposition and subsequent offenses. Findings are compared with those of a previous study of a 1945 cohort, and implications are discussed. Six notes are provided.