| Abstract: | Analyzed frequencies of prior violent and nonviolent criminal convictions among 198 adult male felony offenders (mean age 27 yrs) in relation to probation outcome defined as success, nonviolent failure, or violent failure. The probation follow-up was conducted after 32 mo. Only the results for prior nonviolent offenses were significant, and although nonviolent failures on probation were nearly 4 times more common than were violent failures, the nonviolent predictor set was equally sensitive to the 2 types of recidivism. The association between prior nonviolent offenses and probation outcome was attenuated by the influence of age. Persistent nonviolent criminality usually reflects a generalized propensity for social deviance and is therefore of some predictive value with heterogeneous groups of offenders. In contrast, because violence is often due to transitory psychological states that emerge in response to atypical circumstances, it is a relatively poor indicator of the likelihood of future similar behavior. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
