Do the adult criminal careers of African Americans fit the “facts”?

• Rates of participation are similar to national estimates
• Gender differences are driven by participation but limited to early adulthood
• Violent offending extends beyond expectations based on existing evidence
• Violent offenders are responsible for the majority of all arrests for both genders
• Average adult career length is between 15 to 18 years

PurposeA major gap in the criminal career research is our understanding of offending among African Americans, especially beyond early adulthood. In light of this gap, this study describes the criminal career patterns of a cohort of African American males and females.MethodsThis paper uses official criminal history data spanning ages 17 to 52 from the Woodlawn Study, a community cohort of 1,242 urban African American males and females. We use basic descriptive statistics as well as group-based modeling to provide a detailed description of the various dimensions of their adult criminal careers.ResultsWe find cumulative prevalence rates similar to those for African Americans from national probability sample estimates, yet participation in offending extends farther into midlife than expected with a substantial proportion of the cohort still engaged in offending into their 30s.ConclusionsThe descriptive analyses contribute to the larger body of knowledge regarding the relationship between age and crime and the unfolding of the criminal career for African American males and females. The applicability of existing life course and developmental theories is discussed in light of the findings.