Understanding Criminal Careers 9781843927105, 1843927101

Table of contents :
Content: Cover
Understanding Criminal Careers
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
List of figures, boxes and tables
Acknowledgements
Preface
1 Introduction
What is 'criminal careers' all about?
Definitional issues
Who are the criminals?
Why bother studying criminal careers?
Conclusions
2 The Great Debate: competing theoretical approaches and methodological issues
Competing theoretical explanations
The criminal careers approach
The criminal propensity approach
The age-crime curve
The Gottfredson and Hirschi critiques
A General Theory of Crime
Evaluating propensity theory. Developmental criminology and the life-course approachEvaluating developmental criminology
Moffitt's developmental taxonomy
Policy implications
Conclusions
3 The Great Solution? Exploring the major longitudinal studies
Longitudinal designs
The pros and cons of longitudinal research
The Gluecks' study
The Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development
The Dunedin Health and Development Study
Three landmark longitudinal studies
Policy implications
Conclusions
4 When does it all start? Onset of a criminal career
The Home Office Crime and Justice Survey 2003
Age of onset by offence type. Shoplifting as the initial offence of choiceRelational factors influencing onset
Personal factors influencing onset
Monetary factors influencing onset
Practical factors influencing onset
Advantages and disadvantages of starting offending
Young people in care
Onset in residential care
Prosecution of minor offences by looked-after children
Three studies --
three lessons?
Onset of crime in adulthood
Lessons from the three 'classic' longitudinal studies
Policy implications
Conclusions
5 Continuity and change in a criminal career: persistence and desistance
What is persistence? Gender differences among persistent offendersDefining desistance
How do we measure desistance?
Condemnation scripts and persistent offenders
Redemption scripts and desisting offenders
Why do some people desist?
Why do some people persist?
When 'going straight' is 'curved'
Benefits and costs of desisting
Policy implications
Conclusions
6 Specialisation
The concept of specialisation
Specialisation and typologies of crime
Specialisation and theories of crime
Measuring specialisation
The evidence for and against specialisation
Current debates in specialisation. Developmental or lifestyle specialisationConcurrent specialists and generalists
Specialisation and policy issues
Conclusions
7 Dangerousness, prediction and risk
Risk and prediction
Using criminal careers to assess risk of general reoffending
Actuarial and clinical risk
Serious repeat offending and risk
False positives and false negatives
The dangerous offender and dangerous behaviour
Predicting recidivism for dangerous offenders
Risk of first offending
Risk factors for first dangerous offending
Policy issues and ethics in relation to risk prevention
Moving forward? Policy implications.

Citation preview

Understanding Criminal Careers fr

WILLAN PUBLISHING

Keith Soothill, Claire Fitzpatrick and Brian Francis

U n d e r s ta n d in g C r im in a l C a r e e r s

Understanding C rim in a l C areers

K e ith S o o th ill, C la ir e F it z p a t r ic k a n d B r ia n F ra n c is

WILLAN P U B LISH IN G

Published by Willan Publishing C u l m c o tt H o u se Mill Street, Uffculme C u llo m p to n , Devon E X 1 5 3 AT, UK Tel: + 4 4 (0 ) 1 8 8 4 8 4 0 3 3 7 Fax: + 4 4 (0 ) 1 8 8 4 840251 e-mail: in fo @ w illanpublishing.co.uk website: w w w .w illan pu b lish ing .co .u k Published sim ultan eo usly in the USA and C a n a d a by Willan Publishing c / o ISBS, 92 0 N E 58th Ave, Suite 300 Po rtlan d , O rego n 9 7 2 1 3 -3 7 8 6 , USA Tel: + 0 0 1 (0 ) 5 0 3 2 87 3093 F a x : + 0 0 1 (0 ) 5 0 3 28 0 8832 e-m ail: [email protected] website: w w w .isb s.com

© Keith Soothill, Claire Fitzpatrick and Brian Francis 2 0 09 T he rights of Keith Soothill, Claire Fitzpatrick and Brian Francis to be identified as the au th o rs of this book h a v e been asserted by them in a cc o rd a n ce with the C o p y rig h t, Designs and Patents A ct of 1988. All rights re served ; no p a rt of this publication m a y be re p ro d u ce d , stored in a retrieval sy s tem , o r transm itted in any form or by any m e an s, electronic, m e ch a n ica l, p h o to co p y in g , reco rding or oth erw ise w ith o u t the p rio r w ritten p erm ission of the Publishers or a licence p e rm ittin g co p y in g in the UK issued by the C o p y r ig h t Licensing A g e n c y I-td, Saffron H o u se , 6 - 1 0 Kirby Street, L o n d o n E C 1 N STS.

First published 2009 ISBN

9 7 8 -1 - 8 4 3 9 2 -5 0 2 -6 p ap erb ack 9 7 8 -1 - 8 4 3 9 2 -5 0 3 -3 hard back

British Library C atalog u in g -in -P u blication Data A cata lo g u e record for this book is available from the British Library.

FSC Mixed Sources ( H t no SOSCOC J « i

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