Zeroing in on early arrest onset: Results from a population of extreme career criminals

Although the negative relationship between age of first arrest and subsequent criminal career severity is well known, it lacks empirical specificity. Using a population of five hundred adult career criminals, descriptive, OLS regression, and negative binomial regression analyses produced six key findings. Offenders first arrested at age fourteen were among the most chronic, versatile, and dangerous offenders and were justifiably the threshold in differentiating early from late starters. Those arrested in middle childhood were rare, yet accumulated hundreds of career arrests. Persons first arrested at ages sixteen or seventeen were most likely to be convicted of felonies and sentenced to prison. The most violent offenders were first arrested at ages fourteen or fifteen. While early onset was undoubtedly important, 62 percent of offenders with extensive criminal careers were not initially arrested until adulthood. In sum, these findings added empirical specificity to the theoretical and empirical significance of experiencing an early arrest.