“The larger goals of the Pathways study are to improve decision-making by court and social service personnel and to clarify policy debates about alternatives for serious adolescent offenders. We hope to provide juvenile justice professionals and policy-makers with reliable empirical information that can be applied to improve practice, particularly regarding juveniles’ competence and culpability, risk for future offending, and amenability to rehabilitation” .
The Pathways to Desistance study grew out of the planning efforts of the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Adolescent Development and Juvenile Justice. Network activities provided the initial forum for conceptualizing and planning this study. Additional funding from an array of both federal and private agencies supported data collection and other study activities . A full list of contributors can be found here:
https://www.pathwaysstudy.pitt.edu/people.html
“The aims of the investigation are to: identify initial patterns of how serious adolescent offenders stop antisocial activity; describe the role of social context and developmental changes in promoting these positive changes; and compare the effects of sanctions and interventions in promoting these changes” .
“Some commentators have questioned whether a separate juvenile justice system is even warranted, given its dismal record at controlling or deterring juvenile crime. This debate is occurring, however, with limited data on either patterns of desistance or escalation among serious adolescent offenders or the effects of interventions and sanctions on trajectories of offending during and after adolescence. Although some studies suggest that most offenders curtail or stop antisocial behavior in late adolescence, this research has relied on very small samples of serious offenders or on very limited measurement of antisocial behavior patterns and developmental change’ .
Interview responses of youth offenders. Each participant was interview multiple times. Each interview is a different data instance.
Yes. In addition to interview responses, there are official records, e.g. of arrests, and other collateral information to verify the self-reported information.
The dataset contains information on 1354 serious juvenile offenders. Each participant was followed for a period of seven years, with interviews conducted every 6 months for the first 3 years and every 12 months thereafter.
Enrollment into the Pathways to Desistance study occurred over a twenty-six month period between November, 2000 and January, 2003.
To be eligible for the study, individuals had to be in Maricopa County, AZ or Philadelphia, PA and:
1. at least 14 years old and under 18 years old at the time of their committing offense.
2. found guilty of a serious offense (predominantly felonies, with a few exceptions for some misdemeanor property offenses, sexual assault, or weapons offenses).
3. had to provide informed assent or consent (parent consent was obtained for all youth under the age of 18 at the time of enrollment).
The proportion of male youth found guilty of a drug charge was capped at 15% to avoid an over-representation of drug offenders. All females who met the age and crime criteria were approached for enrollment as were youth being considered for trial in the adult system. Twenty percent of the youths approached for participation declined .
Interview responses. In addition, official arrest and court records were obtained for each participant. Among other topics, participants were asked about their offending, interactions with the justice system, and alcohol and drug use.
Relevant to criminal justice, participants self-report their levels of offending for various categories. Specifically, participants are asked about the frequency of committing each of the following acts over the past year (first interview) or from the last interview: Destroy property, set fire, broke in to steal, shoplift, receive stolen prop, use credit card illegally, stole car, sold marijuana, sold other drug, carjacked, drove drunk, been paid by someone for sex, forced sex, killed someone, shot someone, shot at someone, robbery with weapon, robbery no weapon, beaten someone, in fight, fight part of gang, carried gun, enter car to steal, gone joyriding.
Data of re-arrests from official records is also reported.
For full details please see:
https://www.pathwaysstudy.pitt.edu/codebook/sro-sb.html.
No. However, re-offending or re-arrest may be suitable to be used as target labels.
No.
Yes. This information is self-reported by the participants.
The data is self-reported. Although efforts were made to corroborate and validate the information through various means, including interviews with others who know the participants and comparison to official arrest and court records.
The participants in this study are not a representative sample of the general population, and any findings might not be generalizable.
Yes. The survey contains information on criminal activity, alcohol and drug use/abuse, health including mental, domestic violence, relationships, psychological traits and IQ, opinions, religion, income, and demographic information.
The findings of the original study can be found in .
Yes. Please see:
https://www.pathwaysstudy.pitt.edu/publications.html
This dataset can be used to investigate the relationship between offending and arrests, including conditioning on several demographic factors.
Limitations include the small size of the sample and that it is non-representative of the general population.
Interviews were done with participants. Collateral interviews were conducted with family members or peers. Official records were gathered regarding arrest and social service involvement .
Yes. But the information was corroborated via interviews with family members or peers and via official records wherever possible.
Participants, who are serious juvenile offenders, and their family members and peers. Participants were paid between $50 and $150 for each interview .
Participants were recruited between the years 2000 – 2003. Each participant was followed for a period of 7 years.
Unknown.
Yes. Participation in the study was voluntary.
Unknown.
The technical report does not mention data processing.
A version of the data, with some variables restricted is publicly avilable and can be accessed from here:
https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/ICPSR/studies/36800
The data is in the public domain. Some variables are restricted are required requesting access.
The license is not specified, but a citation and deposit requirement are listed:
Citation Requirement: Publications based on ICPSR data collections should acknowledge those sources by means of bibliographic citations. To ensure that such source attributions are captured for social science bibliographic utilities, citations must appear in footnotes or in the reference section of publications.
Deposit Requirement: To provide funding agencies with essential information about use of archival resources and to facilitate the exchange of information about ICPSR participants’ research activities, users of ICPSR data are requested to send to ICPSR bibliographic citations for each completed manuscript or thesis abstract. Visit the ICPSR Web site for more information on submitting citations.
The dataset has a website that is maintained by the Center for Research on Health Care (CRHC) Data Center.
Please see website for up to data contact information:
https://www.pathwaysstudy.pitt.edu/contactPage/contact.aspx
No.
N/A
No.