Wikström and colleagues’ (2024) Developmental Ecological Action Model of Situational Action Theory provides a framework for understanding drivers of macro- or micro- level changes in offending behaviour, with offending propensity and criminogenic exposure proposed as two key drivers of change in crime involvement across time. This study examined the role of offending propensity and criminogenic exposure as potential drivers of recent increases in high frequency youth offending behaviour in Australia. The dataset comprisedlongitudinal youth justice data capturing risk assessments, proven offences, and custody periods for 12 consecutive adolescent birth cohorts, born between 1995 and 2006. YLS-CMI risk assessment data were used to measure offending propensity and criminogenic exposure. A balanced panel design, using annual observations from ages 14 to 16, generated 7,417 person observations, and 22,251 person-year observations. Random effects panel regression models were used to assess changes in offending propensity, criminogenic exposure and high frequency youth offending across birth cohorts. Results indicated that offending propensity and criminogenic exposure had increased significantly in recent birth cohorts of justice-involved adolescents, as had the odds of high frequency offending. However, growth in criminogenic exposure, and increases in the strength of its impact across birth cohorts, provided the strongest explanation for growth in high frequency youth offending in recent years. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.
The Talk is commonly understood as a protective racial socialization strategy through which Black parents prepare their children for encounters with police. Using a grounded theory approach, this study examines not only how parents deliver The Talk, but why some intentionally refrain from it. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 30 Black parents in Ferguson, Missouri, conducted during the 2014 protests following the death of Michael Brown, we explore parental decision-making in a context of heightened racial tension and collective activism. Guided by an ecological and developmental framework, we analyze how parents assess risk, emotional readiness, and protection when socializing their children around policing. Findings reveal that parents who engaged in The Talk emphasized compliance strategies, constitutional rights, and avoidance as protective mechanisms. In contrast, parents who did not provide The Talk described intentional restraint, prioritizing respect for authority and concerns about instilling fear. Racial socialization strategies varied across families, with gender emerging as a particularly salient factor, as sons received more frequent and distinct messages. Together, these findings challenge assumptions that the absence of The Talk reflects parental inaction, instead highlighting both the presence and absence of The Talk as strategic approaches to protecting Black youth. Implications extend to Black parenting practices, parenting programs, and clinical interventions
To assess whether the relationship between antisocial cognition and delinquent behavior is bidirectional, a series of cross-lagged correlations were calculated on 1,621 adolescents (748 boys, 873 girls) from the Gang Resistance Education and Training (GREAT) study. Creating four cross-lags with five waves of data and analyzing the within-person effects using a random intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM) revealed that antisocial cognition predicted a change in delinquent behavior and delinquent behavior predicted a change in antisocial cognition over the course of a year in eight out of eight instances. Further analysis revealed that while the results were reasonably stable over time, the antisocial cognition → delinquent behavior cross-lag correlation was significantly stronger than the delinquent behavior → antisocial cognition cross-lag correlation in all four comparisons. These results suggest that antisocial cognition and delinquent behavior are reciprocally related such that an increase in one can lead to an increase in the other.
Research on larger-scale drug crime—here termed serious drug crime (SDC)—has largely been qualitative, male-focused, and narrowly centered on drug offenses rather than on how drug distribution involvement unfolds within broader criminal careers. Consequently, little is known about the broader criminal career patterns of the significant minority of SDC offenders who are women. To address this gap, this study is the first to use large-scale register data—comprising 861 women and 9,763 men convicted of SDC in Denmark—to examine within-women and between-gender differences in the criminal career characteristics and trajectories of SDC offenders. Results show that the average overall criminal career of SDC-involved women starts later, is shorter and less diverse, and consists of fewer convictions compared to men, although the age of SDC onset is similar between genders. Additionally, through group-based trajectory modelling, we identify four trajectories among the women and find that these trajectories differ substantially in their criminal career characteristics, indicating that women involved in SDC are a heterogeneous population. At the same time, we observe great overlaps in the shape and timing of trajectories between genders. We discuss possible explanations for these patterns and suggest pathways for future research on gender and SDC.
This article expands on two themes that are central to the translation of relevant developmental and life-course criminological research for crime prevention policy and were a major part of the late David Farrington’s life-work to help build a safer society. The first theme concerns the need to link explanation and prevention, link fundamental and applied research, and link scholars, policy-makers, and practitioners. Farrington recognized that early developmental crime prevention was up to this task and was foundational to advancing crime prevention policy. He also realized that research on early developmental prevention—especially for connecting to policy-makers and politicians—demanded greater attention to evidence-based programs, economic analyses, and public opinion surveys. On each front, our review found that research demonstrates support for early developmental crime prevention. The second theme concerns the need to marshal the full body of research evidence and interrogate it using the highest scientific standards. Farrington was also at the forefront of this effort, and our review found that there is a high degree of consistency in efforts taken to scrutinize scientific studies and assess the research evidence. The article concludes with some observations on the role of the research and scholarly community in communicating the science of early developmental crime prevention for improved policies and practices.
