VARIABLES THAT INITIATE AND MAINTAIN AN EARLY-ONSET TRAJECTORY FOR JUVENILE OFFENDING

A trajectory defined by three time-ordered events was offered as a use ful adjunct to building a development theory about antisocial behavior s. A sequence was defined with significant linkages between antisocial childhood behavior and early arrest and between early arrest and chro nic offending. The majority of chronic offenders traveled through all three events in the sequence. Each event in the sequence shared a comm on process of disrupted family process plus frequent family transition s and marked social disadvantage. The findings support the hypothesis that the process that leads to antisocial behaviors at grade four may also maintain the entire sequence. The level of disrupted process at i nitiation and a time-based measure of involvement with deviant peers p redicted which individuals moved forward in the sequence and which did not. The findings are consistent with the idea that the majority of c hronic offending juveniles follow a trajectory that can be explained b y a single theory.