NCJ Number
130530
Date Published
1991
Length
378 pages
Annotation
This longitudinal Louisiana study examined the incidence of juvenile to adult criminal progression in the State and identified the factors related to this criminal progression.
Abstract
The 1976 male exit cohort (828) from the Louisiana Training Institutes was tracked by the researcher and the Louisiana State Department of Public Safety and Corrections from 1976 until 1988. Additionally, extensive information was collected from the juvenile institutional files regarding the social, educational, familial, mental health, and criminological influences on each youth. The focus of the adult data collection was criminological information. Eighty-eight percent (732) of the original cohort members were located. Of the total cohort, 78.7 percent (652) had been involved with the criminal justice system either through arrest, probation, conviction, or incarceration. Discriminant function and multiple regression analyses were performed to determine the statistical significance of 20 characteristics in relation to the incidence, frequency, and severity with which adult crimes were committed. Significant predictive relationships were found between the adult criminality measures and eight of the characteristics. The most significant predictors of continuing adult criminality were school attendance prior to juvenile incarceration, age at first legal contact, and length of stay in the juvenile institution. 22 tables and 154 references