• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.149-177
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• 2001

This is a study on age-crime curve in Korea. Three data was used in this study as following: First is the crime statistics as aggregated data. Second is the police record(N=3.541 offences) of the male ex-offenders(N=988) who have been released in eleven prisons in 1987 as individual data. Third is the self-reported group-interview data(N=10.198 offences) administered to the male prisoners(N=979) in ten correctional facilities including eight adult prisons, one juvenile prison and one juvenile training center as another individual data. Generally, the right-skewness of age-crime curve has been explained through the difference of crime rate between early starters and late starters. Moffitt explains that this is because of the higher participation rate of the juvenile period of adolescence-limited offenders, but Godttfredson and Hirschi explain that this is because of a similar distribution in the crime rate of both early starters and late starters. the analysis of this study shows that Godttfredson and Hirschi’s explanation on the generality of age-crime-curve distribution is correct, but this can be modified by various factors like a economic crisis. And the peak age of juvenile period is consistent with the Moffitt’s hypothesis that the peak age is contributed to the increase of crime rate of late starters, not with Godttfredson and Hirschi’s one.