Book Review: Arrested adolescent offenders: A study of delayed transitions to adulthood

• Published date: 01 December 2014
• Author: Kerryn E. Bell
• DOI: 10.1177/0734016814543350
• Date: 01 December 2014
• Subject Matter: Book Reviews

further explain and document how unprepared and ineffective treatment and support was when she

was a victim of sex trafficking. It is at this point that she draws salient parallels between the

responses of professionals addressing her victimization and the current state of professional

responses to sex trafficking victimization. This approach is comprehensive and is grounded in an

effective storytelling approach that captivates the reader.

Walking Prey would function as a great introductory text for anyone who is interested in the field

of human trafficking, most notably the trafficking of U.S. Citizens within the U.S. borders. But much

more than this, Smith’s timely and poignant work provides tips for victims, law enforcement,

teachers, parents, and teens on the subject of domestic sex trafficking. The author’s use of her own

experience as a 14-year-old trafficking victim in Atlantic City effectively captures the severity and

salience of her points, as they relate to the nationwide issue of sex trafficking. The content is often

unsettling and disconcerting, but the text is very readable and engaging. The text at a total of 186

pages is short and can be read in one sitting if the reader chooses to do so. Although appealing and

clearly written, if adopted this text would be better served in a more specialized course dedicated to

the topic of human trafficking.

Salvatore, C. (2013).

Arrested adolescent offenders: A study of delayed transitions to adulthood. El Paso, TX: LFB Scholarly Publishing LLC.

162 pp. $67, ISBN 978-1-59332-591-6.

Reviewed by: Kerryn E. Bell, Eastern Washington University, Cheney, WA, USA

DOI: 10.1177/0734016814543350

Research on criminal offending over the life course is accumulating. However, the research design,

length of follow-up, and those studied have varied. More recently, it appears that the transition

between adolescence and adulthood has become longer. The scholar Jeffrey Arnett terms this stage

of the life course from about age 18 to 25 as emerging adulthood and this reference is continued by

the author Christopher Salvatore who is an assistant professor at Montclair State University. His

book Arrested Adolescent Offenders is part of the criminal justice recent scholarship series from

LFB Scholarly. It examines how the stage of emerging adulthood has had unique age and period

effects on recent generations. Specifically, Salvatore argues that emerging adulthood has extended

the active period for low-level offenders and created a new type of offender—the arrested adolescent

offender (AAO) who must now be considered in future research on the life course.

In the initial chapters, the author describes how an individual can become an AAO by failing to

make ‘‘on time’’ life-course transitions. The author notes how changes in culture and society of

industrialized countries have contributed to a delay in traditional turning points such as marriage,

children, and employment. He shows current statistics suggesting younger generations are postpon-

ing such events to later in life and the economy is making it difficult for some to find employment.

Theoretically, the author suggests that these delayed life turning points have an influence on

criminal offending. Salvatore makes a good argument for how a consideration of the AAO can be

added to Moffitt’s offender typologies of abstainers, adolescent-limited (AL), and life-course persis-

tent (LCP) offenders. He argues that AAOs are simply older AL offenders who fail to make a timely

transition to adulthood. The author then suggests that a consideration of AAOs can have implications

for life course theory in terms of the role of time and social context, as well as gain greater insight

into the relationship between age and crime.

456 Criminal Justice Review 39(4)