Research project Criminal careers from adolescence to retirement age

Individuals with experiences of the child welfare system, here covering both foster-family and residential care (out-of-home care/OHC), are more engaged in criminal behavior compared to their peers. Yet we know little about why and how this disproportionate involvement in crime is brought about. Drawing on various life course theories, the aim of the proposed project is to further the understanding of this issue. Utilizing longitudinal data from the Stockholm Birth Cohort Multigenerational Study, which is centered around a 1953 cohort and its family linkages (including children), we will study continuity and change in criminal behavior within individuals with OHC experience up to age 65. This multigenerational cohort material, combined with recent advances in statistical models for longitudinal data, enables us to both separately and simultaneously investigate a set of hypotheses related to life-course theories on criminal careers, including intergenerational transmissions of crime. Based on our mapping of OHC experienced individuals' criminal careers, we intend to examine a wide range of mechanisms related to the family and the school, as well as the individual’s social, behavioral and health development from birth to retirement age. We also assess to what extent these mechanisms are gender neutral. This will not only help pinpointing which, when and how policy measures aimed at preventing criminal outcomes in this group work, it will also facilitate theory development.