On the Development of Different Kinds of Criminal Activity

Research has established that individuals who participate in one form of antisocial behavior are at relatively high risk of participating in other forms of antisocial behavior as well. In this article, the authors rely on recent methodological advances to study the longitudinal development of two different forms of antisocial behavior: serious violent offenses and other offenses. The results of their analysis of two Philadelphia birth cohorts suggest that trajectories of offending differ more in degree than in kind and that relative standing in the distribution of violent offending is associated with relative standing in the distribution of other types of offending activity.