Citation

Carr NT, Hanks RS. Deviant Behav. 2012; 33(5): 393-411.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/01639625.2011.636660

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Using data from 30 life history interviews with incarcerated women, we examine 8 interviews of women that became involved in crime, and then with the justice system, after age 18. Literature in the area of crime and delinquency supports a relationship between age and crime. The general agreement among researchers is that initial involvement in offending occurs during the early or middle teens and then declines rapidly in the late teens and early twenties. Further, research suggests that the shape of the age crime relationship is similar by sex (Steffensmeier and Allan 1996; Steffensmeier et al. 2006; Steffensmeier and Streifel 1991). However, recent quantitative analyses document the existence of an adult onset population (Block et al. 2007; Eggleston and Laub 2002; Gomez-Smith and Piquero 2005; Simpson et al. 2008). During our research we found that 8 of the 30 women we interviewed became involved in crime after age 20. The present analysis provides a description of these "anomalous" women. They share several qualities, including frequent mention of loss, caretaking (both social and economic), and addiction as turning points or periods that contributed to their involvement in crime. The presence of children was also mentioned as a factor that prevented criminal activities. While we find potentially new pathways into crime for this late onset sample of women, we also explain how our findings are consistent with the life course perspective in criminology as elaborated by Sampson and Laub (1993; Laub and Sampson 2003).

KEYWORDS: Juvenile justice; Juvenile delinquency;