Britta Kyvsgaard examines the nature of the "criminal career" through her longitudinal analysis of 45,000 Danish offenders. The data, unparalleled in size and quality, allows the accurate analysis of criminal behavior, even among relatively small demographic subgroups. Kyvsgaard determines offending patterns for males and females, juveniles and middle-aged adults, and employed and unemployed individuals. Furthermore, she examines the effects of deterrence and incapacitation. Her findings suggest that rehabilitation is worthy of further research.
Author(s): Britta Kyvsgaard
Series: Cambridge Studies in Criminology
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Year: 2002
Language: English
Pages: 303
Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Series-title......Page 5
Title......Page 7
Copyright......Page 8
Contents......Page 9
Tables......Page 15
Figures......Page 17
Foreword and Acknowledgments......Page 21
CHAPTER ONE The Career Concept in Criminological Research......Page 27
Summary......Page 30
PART ONE Objectives, Methodology, and Sample......Page 31
CHAPTER TWO Objectives......Page 33
Other Themes of the Study......Page 34
Is a Danish Study Necessary?......Page 35
Presentation and Limitations......Page 36
Summary......Page 37
CHAPTER THREE Methodology and Validity......Page 38
From Committed Act to Reported and Registered Offense......Page 40
From Registered Crime to Solved Crime......Page 43
Summary......Page 46
The Primary Sample......Page 48
Register Research and Data Security......Page 49
The Workforce Register......Page 50
The Crime Statistics Register and Its Composition......Page 51
Crime Register Variables......Page 52
Quality Control......Page 53
Changes in the Study File......Page 58
Summary......Page 60
CHAPTER FIVE The Longitudinal Design......Page 62
The Delimitation of the Sample......Page 63
General Information......Page 68
What Is Criminalized......Page 70
The Crime Rate......Page 71
What Kinds of Sanctions Are Used......Page 74
Sanctioning Practice and Policy......Page 75
Stability and Change in the 1980s......Page 77
The Danish Crime Rate in a Comparative Perspective......Page 79
The Risk of Being Caught and Convicted in a Comparative Perspective......Page 84
Summary......Page 86
PART TWO The Criminal Career......Page 89
CHAPTER SEVEN Prevalence......Page 91
Prevalence and Age......Page 92
The Cumulative Prevalence......Page 94
Prevalence and Gender......Page 96
Cumulative Prevalence among Men and Women......Page 100
Prevalence and Socioeconomic Conditions......Page 103
Changes in the Prevalence of the Age Groups in the 1980s......Page 106
Changes in Male and Female Crime Prevalence in the 1980s......Page 107
Changes in Offenders’ Employment Conditions during the 1980s......Page 109
Summary......Page 111
CHAPTER EIGHT Individual Crime Frequencies......Page 114
Measuring Individual Crime Frequencies......Page 115
The Uneven Crime Distribution......Page 116
Time between Offenses......Page 120
The Yearly Crime Frequency......Page 121
Crime Frequency and Age......Page 124
Trends in Annual Crime Frequencies......Page 127
Crime Frequency and Gender......Page 129
Crime Frequency and Employment Status......Page 130
Summary......Page 131
Time of Onset......Page 133
Age at Onset and Gender......Page 135
Age at Onset and Social Conditions......Page 137
Time of Onset and Persistence in Crime......Page 138
Age at Onset and Crime Frequency......Page 141
Age at Onset and the Seriousness of Continued Crime......Page 143
Cause of Onset and of Persistence in Crime......Page 145
Summary......Page 146
Measurement of Duration......Page 148
Single-Registration Offenders......Page 150
Recidivism......Page 155
Duration and Age......Page 157
Duration and Gender......Page 160
Duration and Employment Status......Page 161
Summary......Page 162
Measuring Desistance......Page 164
Desistance and Prior Record......Page 165
Age and Desistance......Page 167
Gender and Desistance......Page 169
Employment Status and Desistance......Page 170
Summary......Page 171
CHAPTER TWELVE Specialization or Versatility in the Types of Offenses......Page 173
Measurement of Specialization......Page 174
Measuring Versatility......Page 180
Previous Research......Page 181
Specialization Measured by Number of Similar Offenses......Page 184
Specialization and Age......Page 185
Specialization and Gender......Page 190
Versatility......Page 191
Summary......Page 192
CHAPTER THIRTEEN Escalation in the Seriousness of Crime......Page 195
Measurement of Escalation......Page 196
Previous Research......Page 199
The Danish Study......Page 200
Escalation and the Type of Crime......Page 204
Escalation and Imposed Sanction......Page 206
Age and the Seriousness of Crime......Page 207
Gender and the Seriousness of Crime......Page 208
Summary......Page 209
PART THREE Sanctions and Deterrence......Page 211
CHAPTER FOURTEEN The Incapacitative Effect of Sanctions......Page 213
Measurement of the Incapacitative Effect......Page 214
Assumptions......Page 215
The Effects of Current and Past Uses of Imprisonment......Page 216
Collective Incapacitation......Page 219
Collective Incapacitation in the Current Study......Page 220
Selective Incapacitation......Page 223
Selective Incapacitation in the Current Study......Page 225
The Effect of De Facto Selective Incapacitation......Page 228
Summary......Page 229
CHAPTER FIFTEEN The Deterrent Effect of Sanctions......Page 232
The Change in the Law......Page 233
The Sample......Page 234
Number of Recidivists......Page 236
The Extent and Celerity of Recidivism......Page 237
Seriousness of Recidivism......Page 238
Other Research on Specific Deterrence......Page 239
The General Deterrent Effect of Sanctions......Page 242
The Extralegal Effects of Sanctions......Page 245
Summary......Page 247
CHAPTER SIXTEEN Punishment, Treatment, and the Pendulum......Page 248
The Renaissance of the Treatment Concept and Criminological Research......Page 249
Resistance against a Treatment Renaissance......Page 251
Pendulum or Balance......Page 252
Summary......Page 253
PART FOUR Discussion of Results......Page 257
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN The Contributions and Challenges of Criminal Career Research......Page 259
The Criminal Career Concept......Page 260
Relationships between Prevalence, Frequency, Duration, and Desistance......Page 261
Individual Offending Frequency......Page 263
Onset......Page 265
Criminal Persistence and Desistance......Page 266
Specialization......Page 267
Escalation......Page 269
Gender Differences......Page 271
Social Status......Page 272
Varieties of Criminal Careers......Page 273
Methodological Issues......Page 274
Incapacitation......Page 275
Deterrence......Page 277
Treatment and Intervention......Page 278
Final Remarks......Page 279
References......Page 281
Index......Page 299
