Peterborough Adolescent to Adult Development Study: PADS+ Phase 3
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Cambridge
Department Name: Criminology
Abstract
People's social lives are integral to their criminal careers. The fact that social relationships and experiences are important for understanding people's crime involvement is well established (e.g., Kornhauser 1978; Laub & Sampson 2003; Wikström et al. 2012), but how is far less well understood. Empirical evidence tells us the picture is complex, involving personal and social characteristics, shaped by immediate factors and more stable long-term drivers. Few empirical studies can capture this complexity, due to the challenges of collecting detailed multilevel longitudinal data, and a lack of effective theoretical framing to guide that collection productively.
The proposed study, the Peterborough Adolescent to Adult Development Study: PADS+ Phase 3 is designed to address these challenges. It will provide an extensive in-depth contemporary examination of the role of people's social lives in crime, and the role of crime in people's social lives, by extending the Peterborough Adolescent and Young Adult Development Study (PADS+) into adulthood. PADS+ is an ESRC-funded longitudinal study of a population sample now entering their mid-thirties who grew up in the UK and for whom detailed data has been collected regarding their social lives and crime through adolescence and into early adulthood (ages 12-24). PADS+ Phase 3 will capitalize on and extend (1) rich data from Phase 1 (adolescence, ages 12-17) and Phase 2 (young adulthood, ages 19-24), including data from parent and participant surveys, space-time budgets, event calendars, and official records (see Wikström et al. 2012); (2) refined and augmented theoretical guidance from Situational Action Theory (SAT), an integrative explanation of crime bridging the gaps between individual and environmental, micro and macro, developmental and situational levels, which has been widely tested and supported in international contexts (e.g., Pauwels et al. 2018); (3) enhanced research methods and analytical techniques building on innovations in experimentation and modelling interactions (e.g., Kennedy 2023; Wikström et al. 2024); and (4) established dialogues with practitioners and policy-makers to translate implications of SAT and findings from PADS+ into recommendations and practices that promote effective crime prevention. The proposed Phase 3 (adulthood, ages 34+) will explore how the trajectories of participants' social lives, personal development, and criminal careers change as they settle into adulthood, and analyse drivers of and solutions to crime involvement across the life course. The findings will be translated into practical guidance and used to develop accessible resources (1) in collaboration with practitioners to support crime prevention efforts, with an ultimate goal to add to the evidence-base of what works; and (2) for researchers to facilitate theory-driven empirical research, with an ultimate goal of adding to the knowledge-base of why and how it works.
Key aims for PADS+ Phase 3: Adulthood
Advancing knowledge: To contribute theoretically and empirically to understanding how differences between people and their experiences from adolescence to adulthood shape and are shaped by their social lives and criminal careers.
Capacity building: To contribute to theory-driven empirical research into the causes of crime by developing accessible resources for researchers to apply an analytic approach, test SAT and/or utilize PADS+ data.
Translating knowledge into practice: To contribute to policy and practice by developing constructive and accessible resources in the context of existing guidance and practice and through collaboration with policy-makers and practitioners to support crime prevention efforts within key social institutions (e.g., families, schools, workplaces, communities).
The proposed study, the Peterborough Adolescent to Adult Development Study: PADS+ Phase 3 is designed to address these challenges. It will provide an extensive in-depth contemporary examination of the role of people's social lives in crime, and the role of crime in people's social lives, by extending the Peterborough Adolescent and Young Adult Development Study (PADS+) into adulthood. PADS+ is an ESRC-funded longitudinal study of a population sample now entering their mid-thirties who grew up in the UK and for whom detailed data has been collected regarding their social lives and crime through adolescence and into early adulthood (ages 12-24). PADS+ Phase 3 will capitalize on and extend (1) rich data from Phase 1 (adolescence, ages 12-17) and Phase 2 (young adulthood, ages 19-24), including data from parent and participant surveys, space-time budgets, event calendars, and official records (see Wikström et al. 2012); (2) refined and augmented theoretical guidance from Situational Action Theory (SAT), an integrative explanation of crime bridging the gaps between individual and environmental, micro and macro, developmental and situational levels, which has been widely tested and supported in international contexts (e.g., Pauwels et al. 2018); (3) enhanced research methods and analytical techniques building on innovations in experimentation and modelling interactions (e.g., Kennedy 2023; Wikström et al. 2024); and (4) established dialogues with practitioners and policy-makers to translate implications of SAT and findings from PADS+ into recommendations and practices that promote effective crime prevention. The proposed Phase 3 (adulthood, ages 34+) will explore how the trajectories of participants' social lives, personal development, and criminal careers change as they settle into adulthood, and analyse drivers of and solutions to crime involvement across the life course. The findings will be translated into practical guidance and used to develop accessible resources (1) in collaboration with practitioners to support crime prevention efforts, with an ultimate goal to add to the evidence-base of what works; and (2) for researchers to facilitate theory-driven empirical research, with an ultimate goal of adding to the knowledge-base of why and how it works.
Key aims for PADS+ Phase 3: Adulthood
Advancing knowledge: To contribute theoretically and empirically to understanding how differences between people and their experiences from adolescence to adulthood shape and are shaped by their social lives and criminal careers.
Capacity building: To contribute to theory-driven empirical research into the causes of crime by developing accessible resources for researchers to apply an analytic approach, test SAT and/or utilize PADS+ data.
Translating knowledge into practice: To contribute to policy and practice by developing constructive and accessible resources in the context of existing guidance and practice and through collaboration with policy-makers and practitioners to support crime prevention efforts within key social institutions (e.g., families, schools, workplaces, communities).
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Kyle Treiber (Principal Investigator) |