Long-term offending trajectories and life circumstances of adult sex offenders

• In Event: Factors that Promote or Impede Desistance for Serious, Violent, and Sexual Offenders

Abstract

Research has clearly shown that individuals convicted for a sex offense represent a very heterogeneous group, whose offending behavior is dynamic over time. In spite of these observations, there is limited research on the longitudinal offending patterns and little attention to date has been put on the impact of life circumstances on such patterns. This is of particular interest given that these individuals are often imposed stringent legal dispositions upon community re-entry that can impact their life circumstances in a significant way. The current study, therefore, is based on the individual criminal career data covering the adulthood period of a large sample of individuals convicted at least once for a sexual offense. It focuses on the development of criminal behavior in the long-term by examining the number, shape and prevalence of different criminal trajectories among this group. The study also aims to determine whether life circumstances such as work, family, income, and social influence are distinct across these trajectories. Finally, the study aims to investigate whether such life circumstances impact the observed age-crime pattern found. Using a series of semi-parametric group-based modeling, the current is based on data from a sample including over 900 convicted sex offenders from British Columbia, Canada. Life circumstances were measured through the detailed reports completed by probation/parole officers using data from multiple sources. While the study findings provide additional support for the investigation of offending patterns, it raises several issues and questions about the mainstream criminogenic factors responsible for desistance from offending.

Authors

• Patrick Lussier, University of Laval

• Evan C. McCuish, Simon Fraser University