Anette Marie Andresen

• Andresen, Anette Marie & Skardhamar, Torbjørn (2026). Rethinking Criminal Onset: Age at First Offence, Persistence, and Sex Differences. Journal of Developmental and Life-Course Criminology. ISSN 2199-4641. 12(1). doi: 10.1007/s40865-026-00315-x. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  How frequent is criminal onset at each age, and to what extent does onset age predict continued offending across the life course for men and women? Criminological theory and empirical research put emphasis on young offenders, as early onset is a clear risk-factor for persistence, and often assume later onset implies lower risk of continued offending, yet the prevalence and persistence of adult onset remain disputed. It is also contentious whether there is any meaningful onset after reaching adulthood. While it is clear that the risk of onset declines with age, the dominant empirical approach in the literature is to identify the most common trajectory groups, using methods that are less likely to identify segments of unusual offending patterns, such as onset after normative ages. Using nationwide administrative records of solved offences for the resident population of Norway, we provide descriptive accounts of first registered offences in 2010 and subsequent continuation across all ages (N = 22 610; observation window 1982–2020). We find registered onset across all ages for both men and women, and while the risk of continuation declines with age, a non-ignorable number of offenders continue after onset even in older ages among both sexes (21% among men and 23% among women with onset at age 40 or older).

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• Andresen, Anette Marie & Skardhamar, Torbjørn (2025). Crime throughout the life course: onset and continuation in offending. Full text in Research Archive
• Andresen, Anette Marie & Skardhamar, Torbjørn (2025). Age of onset and continued offending. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This study aims to provide new evidence of age of onset and the amount of continued offending after onset at different ages. Early onset has been identified as a clear risk-factor for continued offending. Individuals with a later onset is associated with lesser risk for continued offending, but to what degree is uncertain. This uncertainty may be the result of a long standing discussion of whether late or adult onset exists at all. Defining late or adult onset has been proven difficult, where one reason may be the variety data used in the efforts to investigate the phenomenon. This study utilize total population data from Norway to investigate the existence of onset across all ages. We do so in an attempt to overcome some of the challenges in previous studies. The data include official offence data from 1992 to 2020. In this study we explore criminal onset among all full time Norwegian residents above the age of 10 with their first registered charge in 2010. The dataset also allows for descriptive information on continued offending after onset at different ages. The result confirm criminal onset is most common during late teens/early adolescence. Criminal onset, however, occurs in all ages, although less common with the increase in age. Similarly for continued offending, continued offending is most common among earlier onset, but there are instances of quite serious careers at later age of onset.

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