Predictors of Serious Violent Recidivism

Abstract

Despite the growth in research on violent offenders, little is known about the existence of a career in violent crime. To fill the gap in the knowledge of violent offenders, the authors conducted a retrospective longitudinal study of all individuals arrested in Franklin County, OH, in 1973 for an FBI index violent crime. Those continuing in post-1973 criminal activities (as measured by an arrest) were not high-rate violent offenders; on the other hand, they maintained a higher than average amount of index violent and other violent criminal activity. They were arrested for a large number of serious crimes and committed a large number of the cohort's violent offenses. Contrary to expectations, many of these subjects seriously persisted in violent activities.

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