Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Psychosocial Maturation, Race, and Desistance from Crime

  • Empirical Research
  • Published:
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Research on maturation and its relation to antisocial behavior has progressed appreciably in recent years. Psychosocial maturation is a relatively recent concept of development that scholarship has linked to risky behavior. Psychosocial maturation appears to be a promising explanation of the process of exiting criminal behavior, known as desistance from crime. However, to date, research has not examined whether psychosocial maturation is related to desistance in similar ways across race/ethnicity. Using the Pathways to Desistance Study which followed a mixed-race/ethnicity group of serious adolescent offenders for 7 years, this research tested growth in psychosocial maturation across race/ethnic groups. The sample (14.46% female, average age 15.97 at baseline) was composed of white (n = 250), black (n = 463), and Hispanic (n = 414) individuals. The results showed variation in trajectories of psychosocial maturation with blacks having higher initial levels but slower growth in maturation over time compared to whites. Psychosocial maturation was negatively related to crime across all racial/ethnic groups. Across all racial/ethnic groups, differences in the magnitude of the association between psychosocial maturation and desistance were small. Rather than needing distinct theories for specific groups, psychosocial maturation appears to be a general theoretical perspective for understanding desistance from crime across races/ethnicities. Policy formulation based on psychosocial maturation would, therefore, be applicable across racial/ethnic groups.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. We imposed other restrictions on the sample; for example, requiring valid data on at least 6 out of 8 years to calculate the average psychosocial maturation score (see below). If a subject had less than 6 valid psychosocial scores across the 8 years, the score was not calculated at any year.

  2. The project website, www.pathwaysstudy.pitt.edu provides information on the study and constructing measures.

  3. Individual items of subscales are not available in the data but scale reliabilities are presented at http://www.pathwaysstudy.pitt.edu/.

  4. Psychometric properties were also examined by race, finding that the reliabilities of the three main components (Temperance, Perspective, Responsibility) were on the low side for each group (.50–.68 for whites, .43–.53 for blacks, .47–.62 for Hispanics across the 7 years). For the factor and PCA analysis, the results showed similarly that across race/ethnicity and time, one major factor emerged. The only eigenvalue over 1 for the factor analyses were found for whites at years 3, 5, 6, and 7. As was the case for the full sample analyses, the PCA showed clearer patterns, with one factor with an eigenvalue over 1 for each group at each year. For the six subcomponents, the alphas across year ranged from .63–.79 for whites, .61–.68 for blacks, and .64–.73 for Hispanics. Over the entire study, the alpha for the six components ranged from .76 for whites, .66 for blacks, and .73 for Hispanics. The PCA for the six components resulted in one factor with an eigenvalue over two for all years by race. For most years, there was an additional factor over 1 and for whites and Hispanics at baseline and blacks at year 4, there were three factors with eigenvalues over 1. The factor analysis resulted in one factor with an eigenvalue over 1 for each year/race/ethnicity. While there are some differences, particularly with respect to blacks having somewhat lower scores, there do not appear to be substantial operationalization concerns across race. Nevertheless, measurement differences by race should be a focus of future research.

  5. Race/ethnicity is correlated with site. To ensure the results which control for site were robust, we re-ran the desistance models without this variable. The results are similar to those reported with site controlled.

  6. All growth models were calculated with covariance unstructured specification; models calculated with independence covariance structure were similar.

  7. Models with each component included together in each model were explored as well. For whites, all components were statistically significant except the between-individual responsibility and perspective effects. For blacks, the between individual responsibility effect switched signs and was statistically significant. There was a moderate correlation between temperance and responsibility between-individual variables; when the temperance variable was removed, the responsibility sign switched back to negative (but was not significant). This same model would not successfully converge for Hispanics. These models were unstable and should be considered exploratory.

References

  • Alper, M., Durose, M. R., & Markman, J. (2018). 2018 update on prisoner recidivism: a 9-year follow-up period (2005–2014). Department of Justice. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics. https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/18upr9yfup0514.pdf

  • Apel, R., & Kaukinen, C. (2008). On the relationship between family structure and antisocial behavior: parental cohabitation and blended households. Criminology, 46(1), 35–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bersani, B. E., & DiPietro, S. M. (2016). Examining the salience of marriage to offending for black and Hispanic men. Justice Quarterly, 33(3), 510–537.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bersani, B. E., & Doherty, E. E. (2018). Desistance from offending in the twenty-first century. Annual Review of Criminology, 1, 311–334.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Britt, C. L., Rocque, M., & Zimmerman, G. M. (2018). The analysis of bounded count data in criminology. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 34(2), 591–607.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Broidy, L. M., Stewart, A. L., Thompson, C. M., Chrzanowski, A., Allard, T., & Dennison, S. M. (2015). Life course offending pathways across gender and race/ethnicity. Journal of Developmental and Life-Course Criminology, 1(2), 118–149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bushway, S. D., Piquero, A. R., Broidy, L. M., Cauffman, E., & Mazerolle, P. (2001). An empirical framework for studying desistance as a process. Criminology, 39(2), 491–516.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cauffman, E., & Steinberg, L. (2000). (Im) maturity of judgment in adolescence: why adolescents may be less culpable than adults. Behavioral sciences & the law, 18(6), 741–760.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chassin, L., Dmitrieva, J., Modecki, K., Steinberg, L., Cauffman, E., Piquero, A. R., & Losoya, S. H. (2010). Does adolescent alcohol and marijuana use predict suppressed growth in psychosocial maturity among male juvenile offenders? Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 24(1), 48–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chu, D. C., & Sung, H. E. (2009). Racial differences in desistance from substance abuse: the impact of religious involvement on recovery. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 53(6), 696–716.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, P., Cohen, J., Aiken, L. S., & West, S. G. (1999). The problem of units and the circumstance for POMP. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 34(3), 315–346.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, P., Kasen, S., Chen, H., Hartmark, C., & Gordon, K. (2003). Variations in patterns of developmental transmissions in the emerging adulthood period. Developmental Psychology, 39(4), 657–669.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coyle, B. (2019). ‘What the f**k is maturity?’: young adulthood, subjective maturity and desistance from crime. The British Journal of Criminology.

  • Craig, J. M. (2015). The effects of marriage and parenthood on offending levels over time among juvenile offenders across race and ethnicity. Journal of Crime and Justice, 38(2), 163–182.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dmitrieva, J., Monahan, K. C., Cauffman, E., & Steinberg, L. (2012). Arrested development: the effects of incarceration on the development of psychosocial maturity. Development and Psychopathology, 24(3), 1073–1090.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doherty, E. E., & Ensminger, M. E. (2014). Do the adult criminal careers of African Americans fit the “facts"? Journal of Criminal Justice, 42(6), 517–526.

  • Elliott, D. S. (1994). Serious violent offenders: onset, developmental course, and termination—The American Society of Criminology 1993 presidential address. Criminology, 32(1), 1–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fader, J. J., & Traylor, L. L. (2015). Dealing with difference in desistance theory: the promise of intersectionality for new avenues of inquiry. Sociology Compass, 9(4), 247–260.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farrington, D. P., Piquero, A. R., & Jennings, W. G. (2013). Offending from childhood to late middle age: recent results from the Cambridge Study in delinquent development. New York: Springer.

  • Glueck, S., & Glueck, E. (1937/1966). Later criminal careers. New York: The Commonwealth Fund.

  • Gottfredson, M. R., & Hirschi, T. (1990). A general theory of crime. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

  • Greenberger, E., Josselson, R., Knerr, C., & Knerr, B. (1975). The measurement and structure of psychosocial maturity. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 4(2), 127–143.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greenberger, E., & Sørensen, A. B. (1974). Toward a concept of psychosocial maturity. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 3(4), 329–358.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hall, G. S. (1904). Adolescence: Its psychology and its relation to physiology, anthropology, sociology, sex, crime, religion, and education. (Vols. I, II). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

  • Haynie, D. L., Weiss, H. E., & Piquero, A. (2008). Race, the economic maturity gap, and criminal offending in young adulthood. Justice Quarterly, 25(4), 595–622.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hirschi, T. (1969). Causes of delinquency. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

  • Hollingshead, A. B. (1957). Two factor index of social position. New Haven: Yale University, Mimeo.

  • Horney, J., Osgood, D. W., & Marshall, I. H. (1995). Criminal careers in the short-term: Intra-individual variability in crime and its relation to local life circumstances. American Sociological Review, 60(5), 655–673.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klimstra, T. A., Hale, III, W. W., Raaijmakers, Q. A., Branje, S. J., & Meeus, W. H. (2009). Maturation of personality in adolescence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 96(4), 898–912.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knight, G. P., Losoya, S. H., Cho, Y. I., Chassin, L., Williams, J. L., & Cota-Robles, S. (2012). Ethnic identity and offending trajectories among Mexican American juvenile offenders: Gang membership and psychosocial maturity. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 22(4), 782–796.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kokkonen, I., Moilanen, J., & Kokkonen, E. R. (2001). Predictors of delayed social maturation and mental health disorders in young adults chronically ill since childhood. Nordic Journal of Psychiatry, 55(4), 237–242.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lynam, D. R., Caspi, A., Moffit, T. E., Wikström, P. O., Loeber, R., & Novak, S. (2000). The interaction between impulsivity and neighborhood context on offending: the effects of impulsivity are stronger in poorer neighborhoods. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 109(4), 563–574.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Massoglia, M., & Uggen, C. (2007). Subjective desistance and the transition to adulthood. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 23(1), 90–103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Modecki, K. L. (2008). Addressing gaps in the maturity of judgment literature: age differences and delinquency. Law and Human Behavior, 32(1), 78–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moffitt, T. E. (1993). Adolescence-limited and life-course-persistent antisocial behavior: a developmental taxonomy. Psychological Review, 100(4), 674–701.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Monahan, K. C., & Piquero, A. R. (2009). Investigating the longitudinal relation between offending frequency and offending variety. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 36(7), 653–673.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Monahan, K. C., Steinberg, L., Cauffman, E., & Mulvey, E. P. (2009). Trajectories of antisocial behavior and psychosocial maturity from adolescence to young adulthood. Developmental Psychology, 45(6), 1654–1668.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Monahan, K. C., Steinberg, L., Cauffman, E., & Mulvey, E. P. (2013). Psychosocial (im) maturity from adolescence to early adulthood: distinguishing between adolescence-limited and persisting antisocial behavior. Development and Psychopathology, 25(4pt1), 1093–1105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mulvey, E. P., Steinberg, L., Fagan, J., Cauffman, E., Piquero, A. R., Chassin, L., & Losoya, S. H. (2004). Theory and research on desistance from antisocial activity among serious adolescent offenders. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 2(3), 213–236.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mulvey, E. P. (2013). Research on Pathways to Desistance [Maricopa County, AZ and Philadelphia County, PA]: Subject Measures, 2000–2010. ICPSR29961-v2. Ann Arbor: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor]. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR29961.v2

  • Nagin, D. S. (2005). Group-based modeling of development. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

  • Ozkan, T., Rocque, M., & Posick, C. (2018). Reconsidering the Link Between Depression and Crime: A Longitudinal Assessment. Criminal Justice and Behavior, Forthcoming.

  • Ozkan, T., & Worrall, J. L. (2017). A psychosocial test of the maturity gap thesis. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 44(6), 815–842.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paternoster, R., Brame, R., Mazerolle, P., & Piquero, A. (1998). Using the correct statistical test for the equality of regression coefficients. Criminology, 36(4), 859–866.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paus, T. (2005). Mapping brain maturation and cognitive development during adolescence. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 9(2), 60–68.

  • Piquero, A. R. (2015). Understanding race/ethnicity differences in offending across the life course: Gaps and opportunities. Journal of Developmental and Life-Course Criminology, 1(1), 21–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piquero, A. R., Blumstein, A., Brame, R., Haapanen, R., Mulvey, E. P., & Nagin, D. S. (2001). Assessing the impact of exposure time and incapacitation on longitudinal trajectories of criminal offending. Journal of Adolescent Research, 16(1), 54–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piquero, A. R., & Brame, R. W. (2008). Assessing the race-crime and ethnicity-crime relationship in a sample of serious adolescent delinquents. Crime & Delinquency, 54(3), 390–422.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piquero, A. R., Farrington, D. P., & Blumstein, A. (2003). The criminal career paradigm. Crime and Justice, 30, 359–506.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piquero, A. R., MacDonald, J., & Parker, K. P. (2002). Race, local life circumstances, and crime. Social Science Quarterly, 83, 654–670.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piquero, A. R., Monahan, K. C., Glasheen, C., Schubert, C. A., & Mulvey, E. P. (2013). Does time matter? Comparing trajectory concordance and covariate association using time-based and age-based assessments. Crime & Delinquency, 59(5), 738–763.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piquero, A. R., Jennings, W. G., Farrington, D. P., Diamond, B., & Gonzalez, J. M. R. (2016). A meta-analysis update on the effectiveness of early self-control improvement programs to improve self-control and reduce delinquency. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 12(2), 249–264.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pratt, T. C., Turner, M. G., & Piquero, A. R. (2004). Parental socialization and community context: a longitudinal analysis of the structural sources of low self-control. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 41(3), 219–243.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prior, D., Farrow, K., Hughes, N., Kelly, G., Manders, G., White, S., & Wilksinson, B. (2011). Maturity, young adults and criminal justice: a literature review. Birmingham, UK: University of Birmingham, Institute of Applied Social Studies, School of Social Policy.

  • Rocque, M. (2015). The lost concept: the (re) emerging link between maturation and desistance from crime. Criminology & Criminal Justice, 15(3), 340–360.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rocque, M. (2017). Desistance from crime: new advances in research and theory. New York: Palgrave-MacMillan.

  • Rocque, M., Posick, C., & Piquero, A. R. (2016). Self-control and crime: theory, research, and remaining puzzles. In K. Vohs & R. Baumeister (Eds), Handbood of self-regulation (3rd edn, pp. 513–532). New York: The Guilford Press.

  • Rocque, M., Posick, C., & White, H. R. (2015). Growing up is hard to do: an empirical evaluation of maturation and desistance. Journal of Developmental and Life-Course Criminology, 1(4), 350–384.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sampson, R. J., & Laub, J. H. (1993). Crime in the making: pathways and turning points through life. Cambridge: Harvard.

  • Schlager, M. D., & Simourd, D. J. (2007). Validity of the level of service inventory—revised (LSI-R) among African American and Hispanic male offenders. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 34(4), 545–554.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, A. R., Chein, J., & Steinberg, L. (2013). Impact of socio-emotional context, brain development, and pubertal maturation on adolescent risktaking. Hormones and Behavior, 64(2), 323–332.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stansfield, R. (2017). Drawing on religion in the desistance process: paying attention to race and ethnicity. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 44(7), 927–945.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steinberg, L. (2008). A social neuroscience perspective on adolescent risk-taking. Developmental Review, 28(1), 78–106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steinberg, L., & Cauffman, E. (1996). Maturity of judgment in adolescence: psychosocial factors in adolescent decision making. Law and Human Behavior, 20(3), 249–272.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steinberg, L. D, Cauffman, E., & Monahan, K. (2015). Psychosocial maturity and desistance from crime in a sample of serious juvenile offenders. Laurel: US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

  • Sweeten, G. (2012). Scaling criminal offending. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 28(3), 533–557.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wakeling, H., & Barnett, G. (2017). Development and validation of a screening assessment of psychosocial maturity for adult males convicted of crime. HM Prison & Probation Service. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/661916/develop-measure-assess-psychosocial-maturity-male-prison-population-report.pdf

  • Ziegler, J. A., Kuhl, D. C., Swisher, R. R., & Chavez, J. M. (2017). Parenthood residency status and criminal desistance across neighborhood contexts. Deviant Behavior, 38(1), 17–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors’ Contributions

M.R. conceived of the study, drafted the manuscript and performed all statistical analyses; A.L.B. conceived of the study and participated in the drafting of the manuscript as well as creating the figure. A.R.P. contributed to the drafting of the manuscript.

Funding

There is no funding associated with this manuscript. The Pathways to Desistance Study data were funded by various groups, found here https://www.pathwaysstudy.pitt.edu/funders.html

Data Sharing and Declaration

This manuscript’s data are publicly available in the ICPSR repository (https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/NAHDAP/studies/32282).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bates College, Lewiston, ME, USA

    Michael Rocque

  2. Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

    Amber L. Beckley

  3. University of Texas Dallas, Dallas, TX, USA

    Alex R. Piquero

  4. Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

    Alex R. Piquero

Authors
  1. Michael Rocque
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Amber L. Beckley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Alex R. Piquero
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael Rocque.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

A.R.P. was an Investigator on the Pathways to Desistance Study from which the data for this study were drawn. The remaining authors declare no confict of interest.

Ethical Approval

The institutional review boards at all participating universities approved the original Pathways Study. The authors complied with Committee on Publication Ethics’ standards in the development of this manuscript.

Informed Consent

No identifiable information was obtained for the purposes of the current study. The Pathways to Desistance researchers obtained informed consent before collecting data on the subjects.

Additional information

Publisher’s note: Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Rocque, M., Beckley, A.L. & Piquero, A.R. Psychosocial Maturation, Race, and Desistance from Crime. J Youth Adolescence 48, 1403–1417 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-019-01029-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-019-01029-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation