title: Does Violence in Adolescence Differentially Predict Offending Patterns in Early Adulthood?
abstract: Previous research is mixed on whether the commission of a violent offense in adolescence is predictive of criminal career characteristics. In the current study, we addressed the following: (a) What factors predict the commission of serious violence in mid-adolescence? and (b) Does involvement in serious violence in mid-adolescence lead to more chronic and/or more heterogeneous patterns of offending in early adulthood? Data were obtained from the Pathways to Desistance Study, a longitudinal study of serious adolescent offenders in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Phoenix, Arizona. Prior arrests, violence exposure, and gang involvement distinguished adolescents who engaged in violence at baseline. A violent offense at baseline was not predictive of a higher frequency of rearrests but was associated with membership in the low offending trajectory. In conclusion, violent offending in adolescence might be a poor predictor of chronic and heterogeneous patterns of offending throughout the life course.
authors.affiliation: 1 The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, USA.
authors.forename: Stephanie M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Cardwell
authors.affiliation: 1 The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, USA.
authors.forename: Alex R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Piquero
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D000069581:Exposure to Violence; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D044469:Racial Groups; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States; D014754:Violence; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Pathways to Desistance; adolescence; early adulthood; trajectories; violent offending