A Life Course of Its Own: Trajectories and Correlates of Misconduct Among Those With Long-Term Sentences

Drawing on developmental/life-course criminology and integrating importation and deprivation models, the current study investigates longitudinal patterns of prison misconduct over the first 16 years of incarceration among a cohort of 883 adult males convicted of violent offenses in a Northwestern U.S. state. Results from group-based trajectory modeling (GBT) revealed a low misconduct group (57.98%), an early-onset group (35.90%), and a persistent misconduct group (6.12%). Multinomial logistic regression and time-varying covariate analysis revealed that pre-prison and institutional factors were significant predictors of group membership, with some effects varying by trajectory group. Results from the current study advance theoretical and policy discussions by highlighting the need for tailored management strategies that consider both individual characteristics and institutional contexts over extended incarceration periods.