ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the latent structure of crime-related constructs and attempts to answer the question of whether a construct is continuously (dimensional) or categorically (taxonic) organized below the level of observation. If the latent structure is continuous, then individual differences on the construct are a matter of degree. If the latent structure is categorical, then individual differences on the construct can be considered differences in kind. This is another way of saying that individual differences on a continuous construct are quantitative, whereas individual differences on a categorical construct are qualitative. After differentiating between the latent structure type and the latent structure model, Meehl’s (1995, 2001) taxometric procedure is presented as a reliable method for assessing the latent structure type. An example, using minor delinquency in young adolescent respondents, is provided to illustrate how the taxometric method works. This is followed by a review of the literature on crime-related constructs (juvenile delinquency, psychopathy, antisocial personality, conduct disorder, criminal thinking) in which it is concluded that crime-related constructs have a dimensional or continuous latent structure type. Continuous latent structure type, in turn, supports a cumulative risk model in which the risk of future offending is a function of an accumulation of different individual risks over time and across space.
