Abstract
Criminal career research can be dated back to the early writings of Adolphe Quetelet in the 1800s. However, only in the last several decades has criminological research begun to flesh out the various dimensions of criminal careers and approached theorizing and empirical research through a more developmental lens. In recognition of the relevance of and gaps in the current developmental/life-course criminology literature, this chapter provides a brief overview of criminal career research and introduces the Pittsburgh Youth Study (PYS).