This book reports the findings of the first British study of persistent young offenders, commissioned by the Home Office Research and Planning Unit as a follow-up study to earlier work. Based on a sample of several hundred young people who had been arrested three times or more in one year, it considers the nature and extent of their offending and examines their experiences of the criminal justice system. Different methods of identifying the most persistent young offenders are assessed. Their backgrounds, criminal histories, educational experience, contact with welfare and the use of drugs and alcohol are all considered, and the results used to evaluate current proposals for dealing with the problem of persistent offending.

Based on some of the most interesting research of the last ten years, this book discusses effective practice in work with persistent young offenders. It contrasts two major evaluations of projects for juvenile offenders, one of which was successful and the other less so. The projects, Freagarrach and CueTen, were funded by The Scottish Office and the Scottish Executive. Freagarrach was evaluated over five years from 1995 and CueTen over three years (its entire lifespan) from 1996. This book makes the findings of these projects available to a wider readership, setting them in a wider discursive framework than is appropriate in a government report. The authors identify the factors that made Freagarrach a more successful project than CueTen, arguing that an understanding of these factors is important in drawing general conclusions from the experience of the two projects, and that this is particularly the case because some of these factors have received little attention in recent discussions of 'what works' in community-based programmes for offenders. This is a detailed and thorough study of work with juvenile offenders, which will be of particular value to those interested in less punitive approaches. It will be of interest both to practitioners and to academics in criminology, social policy and social work.

This book will revolutionalise how we think about the diagnosis and treatment of offenders. Rather than categorising offenders according to their offenses, the primary focus needs to be shifted to identifying the underlying psychological processes out of which the offending behaviour flows. Convincing empirical evidence is provided that these underlying processes change pro-socially when specific, effective intervention occurs, and the offender’s behaviour changes accordingly. The findings are not however restricted to offenders. They are applicable also to others with various psychological disorders in the wider community. This is an essential book for professionals such as psychologists, lawyers, social workers, therapists, police and students. “Patrice Cooke’s findings are important and they are not obvious, at least in advance of having performed the research” – Professor Nancy Hirschberg, Illinois, USA

Based on some of the most interesting research of the last ten years, this book discusses effective practice in work with persistent young offenders. It contrasts two major evaluations of projects for juvenile offenders, one of which was successful and the other less so. The projects, Freagarrach and CueTen, were funded by The Scottish Office and the Scottish Executive. Freagarrach was evaluated over five years from 1995 and CueTen over three years (its entire lifespan) from 1996. This book makes the findings of these projects available to a wider readership, setting them in a wider discursive framework than is appropriate in a government report. The authors identify the factors that made Freagarrach a more successful project than CueTen, arguing that an understanding of these factors is important in drawing general conclusions from the experience of the two projects, and that this is particularly the case because some of these factors have received little attention in recent discussions of 'what works' in community-based programmes for offenders. This is a detailed and thorough study of work with juvenile offenders, which will be of particular value to those interested in less punitive approaches. It will be of interest both to practitioners and to academics in criminology, social policy and social work.

This book represents a brief treatise on the theory and research behind the concept of desistance from crime. This ever-growing field has become increasingly relevant as questions of serious issues regarding sentencing, probation and the penal system continue to go unanswered. Rocque covers the history of research on desistance from crime and provides a discussion of research and theories on the topic before looking towards the future of the application of desistance to policy. The focus of the volume is to provide an overview of the practical and theoretical developments to better understand desistance. In addition, a multidisciplinary, integrative theoretical perspective is presented, ensuring that it will be of particular interest for students and scholars of criminology and the criminal justice system.

The Development of Persistent Criminality addresses one of the most pressing problems of modern criminology: Why do some individuals become chronic, persistent offenders? Because chronic offenders are responsible for the majority of serious crimes committed, understanding which individuals will become chronic offenders is an important step in helping us develop interventions. This volume bridges the gap between the criminological literature, which has recently focused on the existence of various criminal trajectories, and the developmental psychology literature, which has focused on risk factors for conduct problems and delinquency. In it, chapters by some of the most widely published authors in this area unite to contribute to a knowledge base which will be the next major milestone in the field of criminology. The authors of this volume represent a unique gathering of international, interdisciplinary social problem so that we can prevent the enormous human and economic costs associated with serious crimes, these authors share their insights and findings on topics such as families and parenting, poverty, stressful life events, social support, biology and genetics, early onset, foster care, educational programs for juvenile offenders, deterrence, and chronic offending among females. Significant attention is paid throughout to longitudinal studies of offending. Several authors also share new theoretical approaches to understanding persistence and chronicity in offending, including an expansion of the conceptualization of the etiology of self-control, a discussion of offender resistance to social control, a dynamic developmental systems approach to understanding offending in young adulthood, and the application of Wikstrom's situational action theory to persistent offending.