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

This longitudinal research, based on two samples of respondents who were di fferentially involved in delinquency as teenagers, identifies latent trait and life-course correlates of the persistence of antisocial behavior into y oung 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 w ere previously institutionalized. The data suggest that the bonding bevels and antisocial behavior of serious offenders are more resistant to change t han are those of more typical and less serious offenders.