New frontiers in criminal careers research, 2000–2011: A state-of-the-art review

Abstract

Purpose

The criminal career paradigm is a major research focus in criminology, and the current state-of-the-art review explicates research published between 2000 and 2011.

Materials and methods

Keyword searches of Science Direct, Scopus, and the National Criminal Justice Research Service produced 364 studies on criminal careers.

Results

A narrative meta-review summarizes essential findings on the parameters of the criminal career, investigates emerging theoretical and disciplinary extensions that utilize the criminal career framework, and identifies 16 pressing research gaps.

Conclusions

Although the study of criminal careers has been a dominant research area in criminology, its presence is likely to expand as research becomes more interdisciplinary and a longitudinal, biosocial perspective takes hold in the criminological sciences.

Introduction

Since the origins of criminology, researchers have been keenly interested in the longitudinal patterning of criminal activity. The emerging knowledge base has come to be referred to as the study of criminal careers, focusing on an individual's involvement in crime to include the dimensions of participation, frequency, specialization, escalation, career length, and desistance. The nature of this research tradition has adopted a life-course perspective that traces the development of individual criminal activity from pre-term to death.

Beginning with the seminal Philadelphia Birth Cohort Studies (Tracy et al., 1990, Wolfgang et al., 1972), the two-volume study by the United States’ National Academy of Sciences (Blumstein, Cohen, Roth, & Visher, 1986), to present day special issues on the topic published by American Journal of Criminal Justice, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Research, Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, European Journal of Criminology, Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice and International Criminal Justice Review, criminal careers research is among the most highly visible areas of scholarship in criminology. Not surprisingly, the criminal careers literature has generated a voluminous amount of material that has been summarized in several outlets (Blokland, 2005, DeLisi, 2005, Ezell and Cohen, 2005, Kyvsgaard, 2003, Laub and Sampson, 2003, Maruna and Immarigeon, 2004, Moffitt et al., 2001, Piquero et al., 2003, Piquero et al., 2007, Piquero et al., 2011, Savage, 2009, Steffensmeier and Ulmer, 2005, Weisburd et al., 2001, Wright et al., 2008). The current state-of-the-art narrative meta-review of 364 studies crystallizes essential findings published between 2000 and 2011, investigates emerging theoretical and disciplinary extensions that utilize the criminal career framework to inform theory development and broaden its scientific scope, and articulates pressing research needs.