Stability and change in antisocial behavior: The transition from adolescence to early adulthood

This longitudinal research, based on two samples of respondents who were differentially involved in delinquency as teenagers, identifies latent trait and life-course correlates of the persistence of antisocial behavior into young adulthood. The data show that prior delinquency is a stable predictor among respondents in both our household and institutional samples. However, although social bonding has a substantial impact on continued criminality among the household respondents, its influence is minimal among those who were previously institutionalized. The data suggest that the bonding bevels and antisocial behavior of serious offenders are more resistant to change than are those of more typical and less serious offenders.