Citation

Stephens S, Day DM. Crim. Behav. Ment. Health 2013; 23(3): 177-190.

Affiliation

Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/cbm.1857

PMID

23436497

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Weapons and drug offences incur a large cost to society and tend to be strongly associated. Improved understanding of their antecedents could inform targeted early intervention and prevention programmes. AIM: This study aimed to examine differences in criminal careers, childhood predictors and adolescent correlates among weapons-only offenders, drugs-only offenders and a versatile group of weapons + drugs offenders. METHOD: We conducted a longitudinal records study of 455 young Canadians charged with drug and/or weapons offences who started their offending in late childhood/early adolescence. RESULTS: Consistent with expectation, differences emerged in their criminal careers as the versatile group had a longer criminal career and desisted from offending at a later age than weapons-only offenders. Against prediction, weapons-only offenders experienced the greatest number of childhood predictors and adolescent correlates. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The three offending groups could be differentiated on offending trajectories and developmental factors. In making links between past events and later behaviour, life-course criminology may inform development of effective early intervention and prevention strategies. As weapons-only offenders experience the greatest level of adversity in childhood and adolescence, they may benefit most (of these three groups) from early intervention and prevention programmes. A reduction in weapon carrying and use might be achieved by early identification of children risk factors (e.g. family adversity) and appropriate intervention. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Language: en