aggression, should be considered at risk of becoming
juvenile offenders because they frequently exhibited
similar behaviors early in life. Approximately, one
quarter to half of these children are at risk of pro-
gressing to delinquency. Next, low-level juvenile
offenders commit less serious and generally nonvio-
lent crimes (e.g., shoplifting), but these delinquent
behaviors frequently serve as precursors to more seri-
ous crimes. Serious juvenile offenders, who have
committed homicide, rape, or arson, are of greatest
concern because they are responsible for 10% of all
juvenile arrests. Additionally, this subset of offenders
committed 2%, or 600, of the murders attributed to
juveniles, and weapons were used in more than 50%
of these murders. Furthermore, juveniles who had
access to weapons began committing crimes at a
younger age than those juveniles without access to
weapons.
The development of delinquent behavior in boys
has been shown to occur through three pathways—
overt, covert, and authority conflict. Juveniles on the
overt pathway initially engage in low levels of
aggression but graduate to physical fighting and then
violence. In contrast, the covert pathway is associ-
ated with the commission of minor acts of delin-
quency (e.g., shoplifting) before 15 years of age and
progresses to property damage (e.g., fire setting) and
then to moderately severe forms of delinquency
(e.g., fraud). Finally, in juveniles under 12 years of
age, the authority conflict pathway is characterized
by defiant behavior at low levels and by avoidant
behavior (e.g., running away) at the highest level.
For these boys, higher levels of avoidant behaviors
are associated with a greater risk of covert and overt
delinquent behaviors. In all three pathways, as the
severity of behaviors increases, the number of
juveniles engaging in these behaviors decreases.
Additionally, juvenile males with an earlier onset of
delinquency are more likely to progress to the more
severe behaviors within each pathway. Another trend
in the development of delinquent behavior is the
expansion of such behavior from the home to the
community. However, normal levels of disruptive
behavior are commonly seen in 2- and 3-year-old
children and, therefore, must be distinguished from
problematic levels. Two major indicators of future
delinquency are developmentally inappropriate (i.e.,
elevated) levels of disruptive behaviors in terms of
frequency and severity and the persistence of these
behaviors beyond 3 years of age.GGeennddeerr DDiiffffeerreenncceess iinn RRiisskk FFaaccttoorrss
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Female and male juvenile offenders share many risk
factors, including poor academic histories, living in
high-crime neighborhoods, family dysfunction, and
poverty. However, female juvenile offenders are more
likely than male juvenile offenders to have experienced
physical or sexual abuse. For girls, having at least one
parent with a criminal record greatly increases the like-
lihood that they will be arrested by age 15.
While the overall juvenile female arrest rate
exceeds the rate for juvenile males, young females are
less likely than boys to possess the risk factors associ-
ated with the life-course-persistent trajectory of anti-
social behavior. For example, female children exhibit
fewer developmental motor delays, temperamental
difficulties, and neuropsychological and cognitive
problems, including learning and reading difficulties.
As predicted, fewer females than males were classi-
fied as life-course-persistent, but their backgrounds
were similar in that they shared several of the
life-course-persistent risk factors. However, adolescence-
onset antisocial girls are expected to be more numer-
ous than their life-course-persistent counterparts
because they are exposed to the same antisocial peers
as are adolescent boys. Yet the opportunities to engage
in antisocial behavior may be more limited for ado-
lescent girls than for adolescent boys because girls are
more likely to experience physical harm (e.g., sexual
assault), which may reduce their involvement in delin-
quent behaviors.Predictors of Desistance
and Persistence
The initial commission of a criminal act by age 13 is
associated with a 2 to 3 times greater risk of chronic,
violent offending. Depending on environmental fac-
tors and personality or behavioral traits, criminal
behavior in juveniles can be prolonged. The presence
or absence of snares (e.g., delinquent peers) could
respectively limit or promote desistance of criminal
behavior in juveniles. For example, economically
depressed neighborhoods have high rates of juvenile
crime and violence, and they have more risk and fewer
protective factors. Within neighborhoods, additional
sources of influence include a youth’s family and
peers, and the interaction of these microsystems must
be collectively considered to gain a more complete434 ———Juvenile OffendersJ-Cutler (Encyc)-45463.qxd 11/18/2007 12:43 PM Page 434