Later criminal careers: psychological influences

An essential aspect of adult criminal career research is to explore how early on adult offending can be predicted. Criminal career research has shown that individuals commit crimes at all times in their lives, given the presence of certain facilitating conditions, and that not all offenders begin their criminal career by following the same onsetting path. The aim of this chapter is to examine the early predictors of the later criminal career. A correct identification of ‘true positive risk factors’ may provide the opportunity for preventing the continuation and the escalation of offending in those individuals who are at risk.