engleski

Key Dimensions of Active Criminal Career Research- Pilot Study of the Zagreb Prison Inmates

Crime data shows that most offenders commit a single act and, upon arrest, discontinue their antisocial activity. Others commit a few less serious crimes. A small group of criminal offenders, however, account for a majority of all criminal offenses which are referred to as career criminal or chronic offenders. Researchers have long been interested in the patterning of criminal activity over the course of criminal careers (e.g. Greenberg, 1991 ; Rowe et al., 1990). The relationship between age and crime raises the question of the degreeto which the aggregate pattern displayed in the age/crime curve (crime rising to a peak in the late teens and then declining more or less slowly depending on crime type) is similar to- or different from- the pattern of individual careers and what conclusions about individuals can be validly drawn from aggregate data. For example, is the peak in the sge/crime curve a function of active offenders committing more crime, or is it a function of more individuals actively offending during those peak years and fewer during the later years? Within individuals, to what extent is the slowing of offending past the peak age a function of deceleration in continued criminal activity or stopping by some people? How much of the age/crime curve for any particular crime type is a consequence of individuals persisting in offending, but switching from less serious crime types early in the career to more serious crime types as they get older? What about the relatinship between past and future offending? These questions are central to theory, as wellas policy, especially those policies that are geared toward incapacitative effects of criminal sanctions, and to changesin the criminal cereer ( e.g, rehabilitation or criminalization patterns as a result of actions by the criminal justice system). Addressing these and related issues requires knowledge about individual criminal careers and a need to investigate issues related to why and when people start offending (onset), why and how they continue offending (persistence), why and if offending becomes more frequent or serious (escalation) or specialized, and why and when people stop offending (desistance or termination). The pilot study conducted in the Zagreb Prison examines the stated dimension of the active criminal careers in inmates, with special reference to the career criminals or chronic offenders.

criminal career, offending frequency, duration, escalation, specialization, incapacitative policy

nije evidentirano