Effects of convictions on self-reported offending

• In Event: Advancing Knowledge about Delinquency and Justice

Abstract

According to labeling theory, offending should increase after a person is convicted, while, according to deterrence theory, offending should decrease. This was investigated in the youngest cohort of 503 boys in the Pittsburgh Youth Study. In general, offending did increase, but it was then necessary to investigate whether this increase reflected selection effects (prior differences between convicted and unconvicted boys). Tests were carried out to study if the labeling effect persisted after controlling for differences in prior self-reported offending and risk factors. Policy implications are drawn from these results about the effects of the criminal justice system on offending.

Authors

• Maria Ttofi, Cambridge University

• David Philip Farrington, Cambridge University

• Rolf Loeber, University of Pittsburgh