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Rational Choice and Developmental Influences on Recidivism Among Adolescent Felony Offenders

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  • Jeffrey Fagan
  • Alex R. Piquero

Abstract

Recent case law and social science both have claimed that the developmental limitations of adolescents affect their capacity for control and decision making with respect to crime, diminishing their culpability and reducing their exposure to punishment. Social science has focused on two concurrent adolescent developmental influences: the internalization of legal rules and norms that regulate social and antisocial behaviors, and the development of rationality to frame behavioral choices and decisions. The interaction of these two developmental processes, and the identification of one domain of socialization and development as the primary source of motivation or restraint in adolescence, is the focus of this article. Accordingly, we combine rational choice and legal socialization frameworks into an integrated, developmental model of criminality. We test this framework in a large sample of adolescent felony offenders who have been interviewed at six‐month intervals for two years. Using hierarchical and growth curve models, we show that both legal socialization and rational choice factors influence patterns of criminal offending over time. When punishment risks and costs are salient, crime rates are lower over time. We show that procedural justice is a significant antecedent of legal socialization, but not of rational choice. We also show that both mental health and developmental maturity moderate the effects of perceived crime risks and costs on criminal offending.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeffrey Fagan & Alex R. Piquero, 2007. "Rational Choice and Developmental Influences on Recidivism Among Adolescent Felony Offenders," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 4(4), pages 715-748, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:wly:empleg:v:4:y:2007:i:4:p:715-748
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1740-1461.2007.00105.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Tom R. Tyler, 1997. "Procedural Fairness and Compliance with the Law," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics (SJES), Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (SSES), vol. 133(II), pages 219-240, June.
    2. Lance Lochner, 2007. "Individual Perceptions of the Criminal Justice System," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(1), pages 444-460, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Chia-Lin Chang & Renu Sukharomana, 2017. "Demand for Narcotics in Thailand, with Policy Implications," Journal of Reviews on Global Economics, Lifescience Global, vol. 6, pages 279-284.
    2. Paik, Leslie & Giuffre, Andrea & Harris, Alexes & Shannon, Sarah, 2023. "The long reach of juvenile and criminal legal debt: How monetary sanctions shape legal cynicism and adultification," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    3. Chen, Daniel L., 2016. "The Deterrent Effect of the Death Penalty? Evidence from British Commutations During World War I," TSE Working Papers 16-706, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE), revised Feb 2020.
    4. Lee, Joanna M. & Steinberg, Laurence & Piquero, Alex R., 2010. "Ethnic identity and attitudes toward the police among African American juvenile offenders," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 781-789, July.
    5. David S. Kirk & Andrew V. Papachristos & Jeffrey Fagan & Tom R. Tyler, 2012. "The Paradox of Law Enforcement in Immigrant Communities," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 641(1), pages 79-98, May.
    6. Augustyn, Megan Bears & Ray, James V., 2016. "Psychopathy and perceptions of procedural justice," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 170-183.
    7. Ray, James V. & Baker, Thomas & Caudy, Michael S., 2020. "Revisiting the generality of rational choice theory: Evidence for general patterns but differential effects across varying levels of psychopathy," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    8. Augustyn, Megan Bears & Ward, Jeffrey T., 2015. "Exploring the sanction–crime relationship through a lens of procedural justice," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 43(6), pages 470-479.
    9. Benson, Michael L. & Alarid, Leanne Fiftal & Burton, Velmer S. & Cullen, Francis T., 2011. "Reintegration or stigmatization? Offenders’ expectations of community re-entry," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 385-393.
    10. Tom R. Tyler & Jeffrey Fagan & Amanda Geller, 2014. "Street Stops and Police Legitimacy: Teachable Moments in Young Urban Men's Legal Socialization," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(4), pages 751-785, December.
    11. Moule, Richard K. & Burruss, George W. & Gifford, Faith E. & Parry, Megan M. & Fox, Bryanna, 2019. "Legal socialization and subcultural norms: Examining linkages between perceptions of procedural justice, legal cynicism, and the code of the street," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 26-39.
    12. Baker, Thomas & Piquero, Alex R., 2010. "Assessing the perceived benefits--criminal offending relationship," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 981-987, September.

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