Identification of risk factors for adult criminal behaviour among juvenile delinquents.

Abstract

Only a minority of juvenile delinquents commits crimes after reaching adulthood. The purpose of this study is to identify the risk factors of adult criminal conduct. I monitored the progress of 137 boys, who had been inmates in a juvenile detention and classification home, until they had reached at least age 26. The dependent variable was whether or not the subjects were imprisoned as adults. The independent variables were based on information recorded at the time the subjects were first committed as juveniles. Logistic regression analysis reveals four risk factors : (1) living apart from one's mother, (2) being unemployed, (3) being young at time of first commitment to juvenile detention, and (4) having been committed to a training school or other institution.