Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Childhood Behavior and Adult Criminality: Cluster Analysis in a Prospective Study of African Americans

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Quantitative Criminology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Adult criminality has important roots in childhood. While many studies have established that multiple problem behaviors in childhood increase the likelihood of future crime and deviance, the current study extends this “established” relationship by asking three questions: (1) Do different combinations of childhood behavioral risk factors affect adult offending? (2) Do family risk factors affect adult offending above and beyond these combinations of risks?, and (3) Are there gender differences present with respect to these two questions? Gender-specific cluster analyses identified seven clusters of childhood behavioral patterns based on teacher ratings measured in first grade among an epidemiologically-defined cohort of African Americans. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were utilized to examine the relationship of cluster membership, family risks, and criminal arrests through age 32 for serious violent and property crimes. While some gender differences emerged, both males and females in the multiple problem cluster were more likely to have later arrests for serious crime. Females who were frequently punished as first graders were most likely to have later arrests for serious crimes, while males who were from mother-only families were at higher risk of having serious criminal arrests compared to those from mother–father families. Implications for prevention and intervention strategies are also discussed.

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. The sample used in this study equals 1198 due to the exclusion of 44 cases who died prior to age 32.

  2. These records were independently coded by Joan McCord, a criminologist, and Loretta Hall Morgan, a criminal court judge in Chicago.

  3. Serious violent crimes include murder, manslaughter, rape, assault, battery, domestic assault, weapons charges, and kidnapping. Serious property crimes include arson, auto theft, possession of a stolen automobile, breaking and entering, burglary, theft, and attempted theft. Non-serious crimes include crimes of prostitution, traffic violations, crimes against order, business crimes, and alcohol or drug-related crimes.

  4. Each of the multinomial logistic regressions were analyzed with and without the 44 dead cases revealing virtually identical results. The analyses excluding the deceased cases are presented.

  5. Using the arrest counts (not accounting for incarceration time), negative binomial regression analyses indicate similar results for males and females with respect to significance and direction (data not shown). While there were a few differences in the results, the primary conclusions from the negative binomial analyses concur with the multinomial logit analyses reported here.

References

  • Aldenderfer MS, Blashfield RK (1984) Cluster analysis. Sage, Beverly Hills, CA

    Google Scholar 

  • Amato PR (1991) Parental absence during childhood and depression in later life. Sociol Q 32:543–556

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barrett AE, Turner RJ (2005) Family structure and mental health: the mediating effects of socioeconomic status, family process, and social stress. J Health Soc Behav 46:156–169

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bergman LR (1998) A pattern-oriented approach to studying individual development. In: Cairns RB, Bergman LR, Kagan J (eds) Methods and models for studying the individual: essays in honor of Marian Radke-Yarrow. Thousand Oaks, CA, Sage, pp 83–121

    Google Scholar 

  • Bergman LR, El-Khouri BM (1998) SLEIPNER: a statistical package for studying patterns and classification. Department of Psychology, University of Stockholm

  • Bierman KL, Coie JD, Dodge KA, Greenberg MT, Lochman JE, McMahon RJ, Pinderhughes EE (2002) Using the fast track randomized prevention trial to test the early-starter model of the development of serious conduct problems. Dev Psychol 14:925–943

    Google Scholar 

  • Block J, Block J, Keyes S (1988) Longitudinally foretelling drug usage in adolescence: early childhood personality and environmental precursors. Child Dev 59:336–355

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Broidy LM, Nagin DS, Tremblay RE, Bates JE, Brame B, Dodge KA, Fergusson D, Horwood JL, Loeber R, Laird R, Lynam DR, Moffitt TE, Pettit GS, Vitaro F (2003) Developmental trajectories of childhood disruptive behaviors and adolescent delinquency: a six-site, cross-national study. Dev Psychol 39:222–245

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brook JS, Whiteman MM, Finch S (1992) Childhood aggression, adolescent delinquency, and drug use: a longitudinal study. J Genetic Psychol 153:369–383

    Google Scholar 

  • Cherlin AJ, Chase-Lansdale L, McRae C (1998) Effects of parental divorce on mental health throughout the life-course. Am Sociol Rev 63:239–249

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cote S, Zoccolillo M, Tremblay RE, Nagin DS, Vitaro F (2001) Predicting girls’ conduct disorder in adolescence from childhood trajectories of disruptive behaviors. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 40: 678–688

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Council for Community Services (1975) Community Analysis Project, Report No1: Chicago Problems Analysis. Publication No. 7509. Chicago, IL

  • Elliott DS, Ageton S (1980) Reconciling differences in estimates of delinquency. Am Sociol Rev 45:95–110

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ensminger ME, Kellam SG, Rubin BR (1983) School and family origins of delinquency: Comparisons by sex. In: Van Dusen KT, Mednick SA (eds) Prospective studies of crime and delinquency. Kluwer-Nijhoff, Boston, pp 73–97

    Google Scholar 

  • Farrington DP (1989) Early predictors of adolescent aggression and adult violence. Violence Victims 4:79–100

    Google Scholar 

  • Farrington DP (1991) Childhood aggression and adult violence: early precursors and later life outcomes. In: Peper DJ, Rubin KH (eds) The development and treatment of childhood aggression. Lawrence Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, pp 5–29

    Google Scholar 

  • Farrington DP (2000) Explaining and preventing crime: the globalization of knowledge—the American Society of Criminology 1999 presidential address. Criminology 38:1–24

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farrington DP, Loeber R (1998) Transatlantic replicability of risk factors in the development of delinquency. In: Dohen P, Slomkowski C, Robins LN (eds) Historical and geographical influences on psychopathology. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, NJ, pp 299–329

    Google Scholar 

  • Flanagan KS, Bierman KL, Kam C-M (2003) Identifying at-risk children at school entry: the usefulness of multibehavioral problem profiles. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol 32:396–407

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glueck S, Glueck E (1950) Unraveling juvenile delinquency. The Commonwealth Fund, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Hawkins JD, Herrenkohl TI, Farrington DP, Brewer D, Catalano RF, Harachi TW (1998) A review of predictors of youth violence. In: Loeber R, Farrington DP (eds) Serious and violent juvenile offenders: risk factors and successful interventions. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA, pp 106–146

    Google Scholar 

  • Hawkins JD, Von Cleve E, Catalano RF Jr. (1991) Reducing early childhood aggression: results of a primary prevention program. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 30:208–217

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huesmann LR, Eron LD, Dubow EF (2002) Childhood predictors of adult criminality: are all risk factors reflected in childhood aggressiveness? Crim Behav Ment Health 12:185–208

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huizinga D, Weiher AW, Espiritu R, Esbensen F (2003) Delinquency and crime: some highlights from the Denver Youth Survey. In: Thornberry TP, Krohn MD (eds) Taking stock of delinquency: an overview of findings from contemporary longitudinal studies. Kluwer Academic, New York, pp 47–91

    Google Scholar 

  • Keenan K, Loeber R, Green S (1999) Conduct disorder in girls: a review of the literature. Clin Child Family Psychol Rev 2:3–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kellam SG, Branch JD, Agrawal KC, Ensminger ME (1975) Mental health and going to school: the Woodlawn Program of Assessment, early intervention and evaluation. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Kellam SG, Brown CH, Rubin BR, Ensminger ME (1983) Paths leading to teenage psychiatric symptoms and substance use: developmental epidemiological studies in Woodlawn. In: Guze SB, Earls FJ, Barrett JE (eds) Childhood psychopathology and development. Raven, New York, pp 17–51

    Google Scholar 

  • Kellam SG, Rebok GW, Ialongo N, Mayer LS (1994) The course and malleability of aggressive behavior from early first grade into middle school: results of a developmental epidemiologically-based prevention trial. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 35:259–281

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kerr M, Tremblay RE, Pagani L, Vitaro F (1997) Boys’ behavioral inhibition and the risk of later delinquency. Arch Gen Psychiatry 54:809–816

    Google Scholar 

  • Lahey BB, Waldman ID, McBurnett K (1999) Annotation: the development of antisocial behavior, an integrative causal model. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 40:669–682

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lanctot N, Le Blanc M (2002) Explaining deviance by adolescent females. In: Tonry M (ed) Crime and justice: a review of research, vol 29. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp 113–202

    Google Scholar 

  • Laub JH, Sampson RJ (1988) Unraveling families and delinquency: a reanalysis of the Gluecks’ data. Criminology 26:355–380

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lipsey MW, Derzon JH (1998) Predictors of violent or serious delinquency in adolescence and early adulthood: a synthesis of longitudinal research. In: Loeber R, Farrington DP (eds) Serious and violent juvenile offenders: risk factors and successful interventions. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA, pp 86–105

    Google Scholar 

  • Loeber R (1982) The stability of antisocial and delinquent child behavior: a review. Child Dev 53:1431–1446

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loeber R, Burke JD, Mutchka J, Lahey BB (2004) Gun carrying and conduct disorder: a highly combustible combination? Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 158:138–145

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loeber R, Dishion TJ (1983) Early predictors of male adolescent delinquency: a review. Psychol Bull 94:68–99

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loeber R, Farrington DP, Stouthamer-Loeber M, Moffitt TE, Caspi A, White HR, Wei EH, Beyers J (2003) The development of male offending: key findings from fourteen years of the Pittsburgh Youth Study. In: Thornberry TP, Krohn MD (eds) Taking stock of delinquency: an overview of findings from contemporary longitudinal studies. Kluwer Academic, New York, pp 93–136

    Google Scholar 

  • Long JS (1997) Regression models for categorical and limited dependent variables. SAGE Publications, Inc, California

    Google Scholar 

  • Magnusson D (1988) Individual development from an interactional perspectives: a longitudinal study. Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ

    Google Scholar 

  • Magnusson D (1996) The lifespan development of individuals: behavioral, neurobiological and psychosocial perspectives. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Magnusson D, Bergman LR (1990) A pattern approach to the study of pathway from childhood to adulthood. In: Robins LN, Rutter M (eds) Straight and devious pathways from childhood to adulthood. Cambridge University Press, New York, pp 101–115

    Google Scholar 

  • McCord J (1983) A longitudinal study of aggression and antisocial behavior. In: van Dusen KT, Mednick SA (eds) Prospective studies of crime and delinquency. Kluwer-Nijhoff, Boston, pp 269–275

    Google Scholar 

  • McCord J (1988) Identifying developmental paradigms leading to alcoholism. J Stud Alcohol 49:357–362

    Google Scholar 

  • McCord J (1994) Family socialization and antisocial behavior: searching for causal relationships in longitudinal research. In: Weitekamp EGM, Kerner H-J (eds) Cross-national longitudinal research on human development and criminal behavior. Kluwer, Dordrecht, Netherlands, pp 177–188

    Google Scholar 

  • McCord J, Ensminger ME (1995) Pathways from aggressive childhood to criminality. A presentation at the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology, Boston, MA

  • McCord J, Ensminger ME (1997) Multiple risks and comorbidity in an African–American population. Crim Behav Ment Health 7:339–352

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meyer J, Megargee E (1977) A new classification system for criminal offenders II: initial development of the system. Crim Justice Behav 4:115–124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moffitt TE, Caspi A, Rutter M, Silva PA (2001) Sex-differences in antisocial behavior. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Moskowitz DS, Schwartzman AE (1989) Life paths of aggressive and withdrawn children. In: Canter N, Buss D (eds) Personality psychology: recent trends and emerging directions. Springer-Verlag NY Inc., New York, pp 17–42

    Google Scholar 

  • Nurco DN, Kinlock TW, O’Grady KE, Hanlon TE (1996) Early family adversity as a precursor to narcotic addiction. Drug Alcohol Dependence 43:103–113

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patterson GR (1995) Coercion as a basis for early age of onset for arrest. In: McCord J (eds) Coercion and punishment in long-term perspectives. Cambridge University Press, New York, pp 81–105

    Google Scholar 

  • Patterson GR, Reid JB, Dishion TJ (1992) Antisocial boys. Castalia, Eugene, OR

    Google Scholar 

  • Piquero AR, Farrington DP, Blumstein A (2003) The criminal career paradigm. In: Tonry M (ed) Crime and justice: a review of research, vol 30. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp 359–506

    Google Scholar 

  • Pulkkinen L, Tremblay RE (1992) Patterns of boys’ social adjustment in two cultures and at different ages: a longitudinal inquiry. Int J Behav Dev 15:527–553

    Google Scholar 

  • Raine A, Brennan P, Mednick B, Mednick SA (1996) High rates of violence, crime, academic problems, and behavioral problems in males with both early neuromotor deficits and unstable family environments. Arch Gen Psychiatry 53:544–549

    Google Scholar 

  • Reiss AJ, Roth JA (1993) Understanding and preventing violence. National Academy Press, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Robins LN (1966) Deviant children grown up: a sociological and psychiatric study of sociopathic personality. Williams and Wilkens, Baltimore, MD

    Google Scholar 

  • Robins LN (1978) Sturdy childhood predictors of adult antisocial behavior: replications from longitudinal studies. Psychol Med 8:611–622

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rutter M (1979) Protective factors in children’s responses to stress and disadvantage. In: Kent MW, Rolf JE (eds) Primary prevention of psychopathology, vol 3: Social competence in children. University Press of New England, Hanover, NH, pp 49–74

    Google Scholar 

  • Rutter M, Giller H, Hagell A (1998) Antisocial behavior by young people. Cambridge University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Sampson RJ, Laub JH (1993) Crime in the making: pathways and turning points through life. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Sorensen E, Johnson E (1996) Subtypes of incarcerated delinquents constructed via cluster analysis. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 37:293–303

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stattin H, Magnusson D (1989) The role of early aggressive behavior in the frequency, seriousness, and types of later crime. J Consulting Clin Psychol 57:710–718

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stattin H, Magnusson D (1996) Antisocial development: a holistic approach. Dev Psychopathol 8:617–645

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tracy PE, Kempf-Leonard K (1996) Continuity and discontinuity in criminal careers. Plenum Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Tremblay RE (2000) The development of aggressive behavior during childhood: what have we learned in the past century? Int J Behav Dev 24:129–141

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tremblay R, Craig WM (1995) Developmental crime prevention. In: Tonry M, Farrington DP (eds) Crime and justice: a review of research, vol 19. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp 151–236

    Google Scholar 

  • Tremblay R, Vitaro F, Nagin D, Pagani L, Seguin JR (2003) The Montreal Longitudinal and Experimental Study: rediscovering the power of descriptions. In: Thornberry TP, Krohn MD (eds) Taking stock of delinquency: an overview of findings from contemporary longitudinal studies. Kluwer Academic, New York, pp 205–254

    Google Scholar 

  • Ward JH (1963) Hierarchical grouping to optimize an objective function. J Am Stat Assoc 58:236–244

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • West DJ, Farrington DP (1977) Who becomes delinquent? Heinemann Educational Books, London

    Google Scholar 

  • White JL, Moffitt TE, Earls R, Robins L, Silva PA (1990) How early can we tell?: predictors of childhood conduct disorder and adolescent delinquency. Criminology 28:507–528

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolfgang ME, Figlio RM, Sellin T (1972) Delinquency in a birth cohort. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolfgang ME, Thornberry TP, Figlio RM (1987) From boy to man, from delinquency to crime. University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This paper was supported by the National Institute of Drug Abuse (R01-DA06630, Margaret Ensminger, P.I.) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (R49/CCR318627-02, Phillip Leaf, P.I.). We are grateful to the late Joan McCord for the comments and suggestions on an earlier draft of the manuscript as well as for the collection and coding of criminal records. Our gratitude also goes to the late Honorable Loretta Hall Morgan who helped obtain and code the FBI and Chicago Police Records. We wish to thank the Woodlawn Project Advisory Board for their continued support and cooperation of this research project during the past 30 years.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health, Behavior, and Society, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, 624 North Broadway, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA

    Hee-Soon Juon & Margaret E. Ensminger

  2. Department of Mental Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Elaine Eggleston Doherty

Authors
  1. Hee-Soon Juon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Elaine Eggleston Doherty
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Margaret E. Ensminger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hee-Soon Juon.

 

 

Appendix The correlation matrix for variables in the cluster analysis for males (below the diagonal) and females (above the diagonal)
Full size table

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Juon, HS., Doherty, E.E. & Ensminger, M.E. Childhood Behavior and Adult Criminality: Cluster Analysis in a Prospective Study of African Americans. J Quant Criminol 22, 193–214 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10940-006-9008-9

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10940-006-9008-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation