This study focuses on the criminal history of serious violent offenders. Our aim is to determine: (a) to what extent the criminal history of lethally violent offenders differs from nonlethally violent offenders and (b) to what extent one’s criminal history influences the likelihood that violence ends lethally. We use criminal record data of offenders convicted of lethal violence (i.e., homicide offenders, N = 2,049) and offenders convicted of nonlethal violence (i.e., attempted homicide offenders, N = 3,387). The results suggest that nonlethally violent offenders have a more severe criminal history and that offender’s criminal history can be influential in predicting lethal versus nonlethal outcomes.
AkersR. L. (1991). Self-control as a general theory of crime. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 7, 201-211.
2.
BaronS. W.FordeD. R.KayF. M. (2007). Self-control, risky lifestyles, and situation: The role of opportunity and context in the general theory. Journal of Criminal Justice, 35, 119-136.
3.
BerkR.ShermanL.BarnesG.KurtzE.AhlmanL. (2009). Forecasting murder within a population of probation and parolees: A high stakes application of statistical learning. Journal of Royal Statistics, 172, 191-211.
4.
BloklandA. A. J. (2005). Crime over the lifespan; Trajectories of criminal behavior in Dutch offenders. Leiden: Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR).
5.
BontaJ.LawM.HansonK. (1998). The prediction of criminal and violent recidivism among mentally disordered offenders: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 123, 123-142.
6.
CapaldiD. M.PattersonG. R. (1996). Can violent offenders be distinguished from frequent offenders: Prediction from childhood to adolescence. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 33, 206-231.
7.
CrespiT. D.Rigazio-DiGiliS. A. (1996). Adolescent homicide and family pathology: Implications for research and treatment with adolescents. Adolescence, 31, 353-367.
8.
DeLisiM. (2001). It’s all in the record: Assessing self-control theory with an offender sample. Criminal Justice Review, 26, 1-16.
9.
DeLisiM.SchererA. M. (2006). Multiple homicide offenders—Offense characteristics, social correlates, and criminal careers. Criminal Justice Behavior, 33, 367-391.
10.
DiCataldoF.EverettM. (2008). Distinguishing juvenile homicide from violent juvenile offending. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 52, 158-174.
11.
DobashR. P.DobashR. E.CavanaghK.SmithD.Medina-ArizaJ. (2007). Onset of offending and life course among men convicted of murder. Homicide Studies, 11, 243-271.
12.
DobashR. E.DobashR. P.CavanaghK.Medina-ArizaJ. (2007). Lethal and nonlethal violence against an intimate female partner: Comparing male murderers to nonlethal abusers. Violence Against Women, 13, 329-353.
13.
FarringtonD. P. (1989). Early predictors of adolescent aggression and adult violence. Violence and Victims, 4, 79-100.
14.
FarringtonD. P.LoeberR.BergM. T. (2012) Young men who kill: A prospective longitudinal examination from childhood. Homicide Studies, 16, 99-128.
15.
GanpatS. M.LiemM. C. A. (2012). Homicide in the Netherlands. InLiemM. C. A.PridemoreW. A. (Eds.), Handbook of European homicide research: Patterns, explanations, and country studies (pp. 329-342). New York, NY: Springer.
16.
GeisG. (2000). On the absence of self-control as the basis for a general theory of crime: A critique. Theoretical Criminology, 4, 35-53.
17.
GottfredsonM. R.HirschiT. (1990). A general theory of crime. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
18.
KrugE., G.DahlbergL. L.MercyJ. A.ZwiA. B.LozanoR., (Eds., 2002). World report on violence and health. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization.
19.
LoeberR.LacourseE.HomishD. (2005). Homicide, violence, and developmental trajectories. In TremblayR. E.HartupW. W.ArcherJ. (Eds.), Developmental origins of aggression (pp. 202-220). New York, NY: Guilford.
20.
LoeberR.PardiniD.HomishD. L.WeiE. H.CrawfordA. M.FarringtonD. P.RosenfeldR. (2005). The prediction of violence and homicide in young men. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 73, 1074-1088.
21.
MoffittT. E. (1993). Adolescent-limited and life-course-persistent antisocial behavior: A developmental taxonomy. Psychological Review, 100, 674-701.
22.
NaginD. S.FarringtonD. P. (1992). The onset and persistence of offending. Criminology, 30, 501-523.
23.
NieuwbeertaP.LeistraG. (2007). Dodelijk geweld. Moord en doodslag in Nederland [Lethal violence. Murder and manslaughter in the Netherlands]. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Balans.
24.
PhillipsS.MatuskoJ.TomasovicE. (2007). Reconsidering the relationship between alcohol and lethal violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 22, 66-84.
25.
PiqueroA. R.MacDonaldJ.DobrinA.DaigleL. E.CullenF. T. (2005). Self-control, violent offending, and homicide victimization: Assessing the general theory of crime. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 21, 55-71.
26.
SmitP.BijleveldC.BrouwersM.LoeberR.NieuwbeertaP. (2003). Differences between convicted violent offenders: Completed and attempted homicides and aggravated assaults. In BlockC. R.BlockR. L. (Eds.), Public health and criminal justice approaches to homicide research. Proceedings of the 2003 meeting of the Homicide Research Working Group (pp. 281-286). Chicago, IL: Homicide Research Working Group.
27.
SmitP. R.NieuwbeertaP. (2007). Moord en doodslag in Nederland, 1998 en 2002-2004 [Murder and manslaughter in the Netherlands, 1998 en 2002-2004]. Den Haag, The Netherlands: Research and Documentation Centre (WODC).
28.
SoothillK.FrancisB.AckerleyE.FligelstoneR. (2002). Murder and serious sexual assault: What criminal histories can reveal about future serious offending (Police Research Series, Paper 144). London, UK: Home Office.
29.
Statistics Netherlands [CBS] (2010). Geregistreerde criminaliteit; misdrijven naar soort misdrijf en politieregio 2005-2008 [Registered crime; offenses by type of offense and police region 2005-2008]. Voorburg: Statistics Netherlands.
30.
TolanP. H.ThomasP. (1995). The implications of age of onset for delinquency risk: II. Longitudinal data. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 23, 157-181.
31.
WartnaB. S. J.TollenaarN.BlomM. (2005). Recidive 1997. Een cijfermatig overzicht van de strafrechtelijke recidive van volwassen en jeugdige daders [Recidivism 1997. A statistical overview of criminal recidivism of adult and juvenile offenders in the Netherlands]. The Hague, The Netherlands: Research and Documentation Centre (WODC).
