Back on the streets: Maturation and risk factors for recidivism among serious juvenile offenders.

This study examines how social and cognitive factors shape future criminal activity among serious juvenile offenders and assesses how adolescents' cognitive development affects the relative impact of those factors over time. The sample, from the Pathways to Desistance Study, is comprised of youth (aged 14-18 years) in the United States convicted of serious criminal offenses, and the outcome measure is self-reported crime. We rely on data collected when the youth were first interviewed (n = 1088) and 18-24 months later (n = 904).