Criminal, penal and life histories of chronic offenders: risk and protective factors and early identification

The Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development is a prospective longitudinal survey of 411 London males from 8 to 32 years. Up to age 32, just 24 — termed ‘chronic offenders’ in this paper — committed half of all the recorded offences. This paper documents their criminal and penal histories. Nearly all were sent to a penal institution at some stage. When asked about the effects of penal treatment, most thought that it had had no effect or that it had made them less likely to reoffend. The chronic offenders differed markedly from the non‐chronic offenders and from non‐offenders in childhood, adolescence and adulthood. Generally, chronic offenders were leading more dysfunctional lives in adulthood. The most important childhood risk factors for chronic offending were troublesomeness, daring, a delinquent sibling and a convicted parent. Most of the chronics might have been predicted at age 10 on the basis of troublesome behaviour or social background features. Vulnerable males who did not become convicted offenders tended to be socially isolated and to be living relatively unsuccessful lives at age 32. Hence ameliorative treatment might be justified for almost all high‐risk boys identifiable at age 10.