U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Delinquent Careers Behind Bars

NCJ Number
231146
Journal
Criminal Justice Review Volume: 35 Issue: 2 Dated: June 2010 Pages: 200-219
Author(s)
Chad R. Trulson; Matt DeLisi; Jonathan W. Caudill; Scott Belshaw; James W. Marquart
Date Published
June 2010
Length
20 pages
Annotation
The current research explored the institutional misconduct careers of 2,520 serious and violent delinquent offenders incarcerated in a large southern juvenile correctional system.
Abstract
There is an increasing recognition that incarceration time, instead of a period characterized by intermittency or lulls in offending, is for many a period of continued involvement in misconduct and other problematic behaviors. Yet, despite mounting evidence on the offending patterns of incarcerated adults, little research attention has been paid to the institutional behavior of incarcerated delinquents. Analyses in the current study revealed that the study cohort engaged in more than 200,000 instances of minor misconduct behaviors and nearly 19,000 instances of major misconduct behaviors during their incarceration. Multivariate analyses examining the incidence of major, minor, and assaultive institutional misconduct revealed that offenders with more extensive delinquent backgrounds had an increased expected rate of misconduct, net the effects of a number of variables. Implications for research and practice are explored. Tables, notes, appendixes, and references (Published Abstract)