Key Issues in Criminal Career Research
New Analyses of the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development

This book presents one of the world's most descriptive accounts of the criminal careers of 411 South London boys followed to age 40.

Alex R. Piquero (Author), David P. Farrington (Author), Alfred Blumstein (Author)

9780521848657, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 8 January 2007

256 pages, 56 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.9 cm, 0.55 kg

'… a major event in criminal career research. The book contains fresh, new quantitative analyses of the offending data derived from the 411 males in the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development - one of the venerable data sets in criminology. The book is also the product of three of the most formidable talents in the area … Key Issues in Criminal Career Research is an excellent resource for undergraduates and graduate students who are new to the area and an informative piece of scholarship for researchers. The down-to-earth writing style and presentation benefit all audiences.' Criminal Justice Review

This book examines several contentious and under-studied criminal career issues using one of the world's most important longitudinal studies, the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development (CSDD), a longitudinal study of 411 South London boys followed in criminal records to age 40. The analysis reported in the book explores issues related to prevalence, offending frequency, specialization, onset sequences, co-offending, chronicity, career length, and trajectory estimation. The results of the study are considered in the context of developmental/life-course theories, and the authors outline an agenda for criminal career research generally, and within the context of the CSDD specifically.

1. Introduction
2. Literature review: A. General criminal careers
B. Organize around contentious issues
3. Data overview
4. Prevalence and incidence
5. Onset age and incidence
6. Specialization
7. Onset sequences
8. Co-offending
9. Chronicity
10. Offending trajectories
11. Career length
12. Discussion.

Subject Areas: Crime & criminology [JKV]