Citation

Trulson CR, DeLisi M, Caudill JW, Belshaw S, Marquart JW. Crim. Justice Rev. 2010; 35(2): 200-219.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Georgia State University Public and Urban Affairs, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0734016809360326

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

There is an increasing recognition that incarceration time, instead of a period characterized by intermittency or lulls in offending, is for many a period of continued involvement in misconduct and other problematic behaviors. Yet, despite mounting evidence on the offending patterns of incarcerated adults, little research attention has been paid to the institutional behavior of incarcerated delinquents. The current research explored the institutional misconduct careers of 2,520 serious and violent delinquent offenders incarcerated in a large southern juvenile correctional system. Analyses revealed that the study cohort engaged in more than 200,000 instances of minor misconduct behaviors and nearly 19,000 instances of major misconduct behaviors during their incarceration. Multivariate analyses examining the incidence of major, minor, and assaultive institutional misconduct revealed that offenders with more extensive delinquent backgrounds had an increased expected rate of misconduct, net the effects of a number of variables. Implications for research and practice are explored.