| Title |
The Age–Crime Curve in Adolescence and Early Adulthood is Not Due to Age Differences in Economic Status
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Journal of Youth and Adolescence, April 2013
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s10964-013-9950-4 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Elizabeth P. Shulman, Laurence D. Steinberg, Alex R. Piquero |
| Abstract |
One of the most consistent findings in developmental criminology is the "age-crime curve"-the observation that criminal behavior increases in adolescence and decreases in adulthood. Recently, Brown and Males (Justice policy J 8:1-30, 2011) conducted an analysis of aggregate arrest, poverty, and population data from California and concluded that the widely-observed adolescent peak in rates of offending is not a consequence of developmental factors, but rather an artifact of age differences in economic status. Youngsters, they argue, offend more than adults because they are poorer than adults. The present study challenges Brown and Males' proposition by analyzing data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth (NLSY97; N = 8,984; 51% female; 26% Black, 21% Hispanic, 52% non-Black, non-Hispanic; ages 12-18 at Wave 1), which collected measures of criminal behavior and economic status at multiple time points. Consistent with scores of other studies, we find that criminal offending peaks in adolescence, even after controlling for variation in economic status. Our findings both counter Brown and Males' claim that the age-crime curve is illusory and underscore the danger of drawing inferences about individual behavior from analysis of aggregated data. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 7 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 4 | 57% |
| Unknown | 3 | 43% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 6 | 86% |
| Scientists | 1 | 14% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 110 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 1 | <1% |
| United States | 1 | <1% |
| Argentina | 1 | <1% |
| Unknown | 107 | 97% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 16 | 15% |
| Student > Master | 14 | 13% |
| Student > Bachelor | 14 | 13% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 11 | 10% |
| Professor | 6 | 5% |
| Other | 21 | 19% |
| Unknown | 28 | 25% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Psychology | 36 | 33% |
| Social Sciences | 26 | 24% |
| Neuroscience | 4 | 4% |
| Economics, Econometrics and Finance | 4 | 4% |
| Business, Management and Accounting | 2 | 2% |
| Other | 6 | 5% |
| Unknown | 32 | 29% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 65. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 16 October 2023.
All research outputs
#665,181
of 25,727,480 outputs
Outputs from Journal of Youth and Adolescence
#111
of 1,934 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#4,456
of 211,158 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Journal of Youth and Adolescence
#1
of 18 outputs
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