Criminal Careers are measured by which of the following?

• A. Onset
• B. Onset and Termination
• C. Onset, Duration, Termination
• D. Duration

Answer: (C)

Criminal careers are understood as a life-course pattern that includes three key elements: when offending begins (onset), how long it lasts (duration), and when it ends or the offender desists (termination). Tracking all three gives the full arc of an individual's criminal activity, which is crucial for analyzing developmental patterns and identifying points for intervention. The other options leave out one of these essential dimensions: onset alone doesn’t show how long or whether the activity ends; duration alone shows length but misses when it started and when it stopped; and onset with termination covers start and end but not how long the offending persisted. Therefore, including onset, duration, and termination best captures the concept.