Characteristics of young,violent offenders

Abstract

Three groups of young, violent, incarcerated male offenders were compared through an analysis of semistructured interviews. These 339 young offenders described the early relationships with their fathers as more important than the early relationships with their mothers. Person offenders were relatively similar to murderers but, compared to this collective group of violent offenders, property offenders had a history of more severely impaired relationships and were more likely to have been labeled as emotionally disturbed or as learning disabled in school records. This study emphasizes the importance of considering ethnicity and of including a property offender contrast group in studies of young violent offenders.