We use data from a classic, large-scale, longitudinal study to examine the patterning of criminal activity: the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development. We provide a description of (1) the sample, (2) measures of offending, (3) attrition, and (4) the social context in which the data were first collected.

Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development

Description of the Sample

The Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development (CSDD) is a prospective longitudinal survey of the development of antisocial and offending behavior in 411 South London boys, mostly born in 1953. The study began in 1961, and for the first 20 years it was directed by Donald West; in 1969, David Farrington joined the team and has been the director of the study since 1981. The original aim of the study was (1) to describe the development of delinquent and criminal behavior in inner-city males, (2) to investigate how well it could be predicted in advance, and (3) to explain why juvenile delinquency began, why it did or did not continue into adult crime, and why adult crime often ended as men reached their 20s. The main focus was on continuity and discontinuity in behavioral development, on the effects of risk factors and life events on development, and on predicting future behavior. Major results of the CSDD can be found in four books (West, 1969, 1982; West and Farrington, 1973, 1977) and in more than 100 papers by Farrington (2003b).