ABSTRACT
The careers of offenders who desist from crime involvement have received almost no independent attention from theorists in criminology, with the notable exception of those adopting a labeling theory. Information about the unique patterns of offending would assist in providing a better understanding of criminal career development and should enable the criminal justice system to develop more effective and efficient intervention programs targeted at offenders in different career patterns. The identification of unique career paths, such as that followed by delinquency dropouts, would provide support for maintaining individualized procedures for offenders with different criminal careers or at different stages in their career development. Multivariate contingency table analysis is used in an effort to discern whether youth who are first identified as delinquents and who later during adolescence refrain from having encounters with police are less likely than other delinquents to proceed to adult crime. The chapter shows the results for male delinquents with offense cessation between ages 15 and 17.
