Focusing on the evolution of offending and antisocial behavior, this work explores how these behaviors develop over time, highlighting risk and protective factors at various life stages. It examines the influence of life events on individual development, offering insights into the complexities of criminology throughout the life course.
Exploring the economic implications of crime prevention, the book delves into the cost savings associated with avoiding incidents such as burglaries, robberies, and assaults. It highlights the various stakeholders who reap the benefits of these savings and examines the frequency and magnitude of advantages gained from proactive measures against crime. Through this analysis, it aims to illuminate the broader societal impacts of investing in crime prevention strategies.
Risk Factors, Prediction, and Prevention from Childhood
Exploring the alarming trend of homicides committed by youth in U.S. inner cities, this book utilizes longitudinal and prospective data to analyze the underlying factors contributing to violence. It delves into the socio-economic conditions, cultural influences, and systemic issues that shape these environments, providing a comprehensive understanding of where and why these tragic events occur most frequently. The research aims to inform policy and community interventions to address and reduce youth violence effectively.
Exploring the complexities of persistent criminal behavior, this book delves into the underlying processes of criminal recidivism. It examines the reasons and duration of continued offenses, while assessing risk factors and the influence of psychopathy and neurocriminological elements. Additionally, it specifically addresses the recidivism of sex offenders and evaluates effective strategies for reducing reoffending. This comprehensive analysis aims to enhance understanding within the field of criminological psychology.
Most criminological theories are not truly scientific, since they do not yield exact quantitative predictions of criminal career features, such as the prevalence and frequency of offending at different ages. This Element aims to make progress towards more scientific criminological theories. A simple theory is described, based on measures of the probability of reoffending and the frequency of offending. Three offender categories are identified: high risk/high rate, high risk/low rate, and low risk/low rate. It is demonstrated that this theory accurately predicts key criminal career features in three datasets: in England the Offenders Index (national data), the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development (CSDD) and in America the Pittsburgh Youth Study (PYS). The theory is then extended in the CSDD and PYS by identifying early risk factors that predict the three categories. Criminological theorists are encouraged to replicate and build on our research to develop scientific theories that yield quantitative predictions.