For more than 60 years, scholars have often likened chronic and persistent offending to ‘living a criminal way of life’, yet these evocative motifs have not received much empirical scrutiny. In particular, the so-called criminal life-style is often conceptualized as something the chronic young offender opts into as an alternative to other pro-social pathways. Whereas for older offenders, it is something into which they find themselves trapped and unable to escape. The idea that crime is a chosen ‘way of life’ among chronic young offenders has not yet received sufficient empirical scrutiny. In this study, we use archival data of nationally representative cohort (n = 373) of young offenders in Australian custodial centers who were each asked whether crime was their ‘way of life’. From this, we estimate its prevalence and criminal-career correlates, finding that one in three strongly identify with crime as their way of life. Self-identification is also found to be strongly correlated with Indigenous status even after controlling for different features of the juvenile criminal career. In all, our data paint a vivid portrait of a criminal identity that, for the young offender, likely signals a perceived inevitability that evolves in the context of structurally and culturally conditioned opportunities. Understanding this phenomenon among youthful offenders is important if we are to be successful in our attempts to curtail criminal continuity through desistance informed interventions.

中文翻译：

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青少年犯罪是一种“生活方式”？澳大利亚青少年被拘留者样本中的流行率和犯罪生涯相关

60 多年来，学者们经常将长期和持续的犯罪比作“过着犯罪的生活方式”，但这些令人回味的主题并没有受到太多的实证检验。特别是，所谓的犯罪生活方式通常被概念化为长期犯罪的年轻犯罪者作为其他亲社会途径的替代选择。而对于年长的罪犯，他们发现自己被困在其中无法逃脱。犯罪是长期年轻罪犯的一种选择的“生活方式”的想法尚未得到足够的实证检验。在这项研究中，我们使用了澳大利亚拘留中心年轻罪犯的全国代表性队列 (n = 373) 的档案数据，他们被问及犯罪是否是他们的“生活方式”。由此，我们估计其流行程度与犯罪生涯的相关性，发现三分之一的人强烈认同犯罪是他们的生活方式。即使在控制了青少年犯罪生涯的不同特征之后，也发现自我认同与土著地位密切相关。总而言之，我们的数据生动地描绘了犯罪身份，对于年轻的罪犯来说，这可能标志着一种在结构和文化条件下发展的必然性。如果我们要成功地通过停止知情干预来减少犯罪连续性，那么了解年轻罪犯中的这种现象很重要。即使在控制了青少年犯罪生涯的不同特征之后，也发现自我认同与土著地位密切相关。总而言之，我们的数据生动地描绘了犯罪身份，对于年轻的罪犯来说，这可能标志着一种在结构和文化条件下发展的必然性。如果我们要成功地通过停止知情干预来减少犯罪连续性，那么了解年轻罪犯中的这种现象很重要。即使在控制了青少年犯罪生涯的不同特征之后，也发现自我认同与土著地位密切相关。总而言之，我们的数据生动地描绘了犯罪身份，对于年轻的罪犯来说，这可能标志着一种在结构和文化条件下发展的必然性。如果我们要成功地通过停止知情干预来减少犯罪连续性，那么了解年轻罪犯中的这种现象很重要。