Is Emerging Adulthood Influencing Moffitt’s Developmental Taxonomy? Adding the “Prolonged” Adolescent Offender

Authors

Christopher Salvatore, Montclair State UniversityFollow
Travis A. Taniguchi, RTI InternationalFollow
Wayne Welsh, Temple UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Spring 4-1-2012

Journal / Book Title

Western Criminology Review

Abstract

The study of offender trajectories has been a prolific area of criminological research. However, few studies have incorporated the influence of emerging adulthood, a recently identified stage of the life course, on offending trajectories. The present study addressed this shortcoming by introducing the "prolonged adolescent" offender, a low-level offender between the ages of 18 and 25 that has failed to successfully transition into adult social roles. A theoretical background based on prior research in life-course criminology and emerging adulthood is presented. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health analyses examined the relationship between indicators of traditional turning points and social bonds and low-level criminal offending and drug use. Several indicators including education, economic instability, and parental attachment were all predictive of offending and drug use.

MSU Digital Commons Citation

Salvatore, Christopher; Taniguchi, Travis A.; and Welsh, Wayne, "Is Emerging Adulthood Influencing Moffitt’s Developmental Taxonomy? Adding the “Prolonged” Adolescent Offender" (2012). Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works. 28.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/justice-studies-facpubs/28

Published Citation

Salvatore, Christopher, Travis Taniguchi, and Wayne N. Welsh. "Is emerging adulthood influencing Moffitt’s developmental taxonomy? Adding the “prolonged” adolescent offender." Western criminology review 13, no. 1 (2012): 1.