Violence and Serious Theft Development and Prediction from Childhood to Adulthood

In this volume, top experts in the field of delinquency discuss the implications of the findings of the Pittsburgh Youth Study for current conceptualizations of antisocial behavior. Violence and Serious Theft is unique in that it combines the strengths of three disciplines to explain delinquency in young people: developmental psychopathology, criminology, and public health. The book addresses questions in two main areas: serious offending as an outcome over time and developmental aspects of serious offending; and factors which explain why some young males become violent and/or commit serious crime while others do not. Violence and Serious Theft is a resource for researchers, practitioners and students in developmental, school and counseling psychology; psychopathology, psychiatry, public health and criminology.

Part I: Introduction and Methods. Introduction and Key Questions. The Pittsburgh Youth Study: Its Design, Data Collection, and Early Key Findings. Measurement Instruments and Constructs. Part II: Epidemiology of Violence, Serious Theft, Substance Use, Drug Dealing and Gang Membership. The Age-crime Curve in Reported Offending. Comparing Arrests and Convictions with Reported Offending. Substance Use, Drug Dealing, Gang Membership, and Gun Carrying and Their Predictive Associations with Serious Violence and Serious Theft. Part III: Prediction of Violence, Serious Theft and Desistance. Promotive and Risk Processes at Different Life Stages. Developmental Trajectories of Violence and Theft. Desistance From and Persistence in Offending. Part IV: Conclusions. Conclusions and Policy Implications.

Rolf Loeber, PhD, is distinguished professor of psychiatry, and professor of psychology and epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh, as well as professor of juvenile delinquency and social development, at Free University, the Netherlands.

David P. Farrington, PhD, is professor of psychological criminology at Cambridge University.

Magda Stouthamer-Loeber, PhD, is associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh.

Helene Raskin White, PhD, is professor of sociology with a joint appointment in the Center of Alcohol Studies and Sociology Department at Rutgers University.