CHAPTER 5:
DEVELOPMENTAL VIEWS OF DELINQUENCY
Developmental theories focuses on the onset, continuity, and termination of a delinquent career
Three independent yet interrelated views:
Life-course theory:
Focuses on changes in criminality over the life course
Latent trait theory:
A stable feature, characteristic, property, or condition that makes some people delinquency-prone over the life course
Trajectory theory:
There are multiple independent paths to a delinquent career, and there are different types and classes of offenders
DEVELOPMENT THEORIES
LO1.
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According to life course view:
As young as toddlers people begin relationships and behaviors that will determine their entire life course
Disruptions in lifes major transitions can be destructive and ultimately promote criminality
THE LIFE COURSE VIEW
LO2.
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A positive life experience may help some kids desist from delinquency for a while; whereas a negative one may cause them to resume their activities
Delinquent careers are also said to be interactional because people are influenced by the behavior of those around them
Life course theories also recognize that as people mature, the factors that influence their behavior change
THE DEVELOPMENTAL PROCESS
LO2.
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One of the cornerstones of recent course theories has been renewed interest in the research efforts of Sheldon and Eleanor Glueck (at Harvard University in the 1930s)
The Gluecks research focused on early onset of delinquency as a harbinger of a delinquent career
The most important factor was family relationships
Others include: physical and mental factors such as intelligence, mental disease, physique
THE GLUECK RESEARCH
LO2.
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A number of key concepts:
Age of Onset
Problem Behavior Syndrome
Continuity of Crime and Delinquency
LIFE COURSE CONCEPTS
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Early onset of deviance strongly predicts more frequent, varied, and sustained criminality later in life
Research shows that poor parental discipline and monitoring is a key factor in the early onset of criminality
The earlier the onset, the more likely an adolescent will engage in serious delinquency and for a longer period of time
AGE OF ONSET
LO2.
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Life course view
Delinquency is but one of many social problems faced by at-risk youth, including family dysfunction, substance abuse, smoking, precocious sexuality/early pregnancy, education underachievement, suicide attempt
All varieties of delinquent behavior, including violence, theft, and drug offenses may be part of a generalized PBS
PROBLEM BEHAVIOR SYNDROME
LO2.
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The best predictor of future criminality is past criminality
Research shows that kids who become persist offenders engage in more aggressive acts, and are continually involved in theft offenses and violent offenses
As they enter adulthood they report less emotional support, low job satisfaction, distant peer relationships, and more psychiatric problems than those who desist from crime as youths
CONTINUITY OF CRIME AND DELINQUENCY
LO2.
*
Social theorists have formulated a number of systematic theories that account for onset, continuance, and desistance from delinquency
One of the most prominent of these is age graded theory
Age-graded theory was first articulated in an important 1993 work, “Crime in the Making,” by Sampson and Laub
AGE GRADED THEORY
LO3.
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FIGURE 5.1 Sampson and Laubs Age-Graded Theory
Sampson and Laub identified “turning points” in life
Two critical “turning points”
Career
Marriage
Adolescents who are at risk for delinquency can live conventional lives if they can find good jobs or achieve successful careers
People who cannot sustain secure marital relations are less likely to desist from delinquency
TURNING POINTS IN LIFE COURSE
LO3.
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VA Tech Massacre Seung-Hui Chos Story Current Example
Seung-Hui Cho was an undergraduate student at Virginia Tech who killed 32 people and wounded 25 others on April 16, 2007 in a shooting rampage. Cho later committed suicide. Born in South Korea, Cho arrived in the United States in 1992 at the age of 8, with his family. The family first lived in Maryland then moved to the Washington metropolitan area. He became a US permanent resident. In middle school, he was diagnosed with a severe anxiety disorder as well as major depressive disorder. After this diagnosis he began receiving treatment and continued to receive therapy and special education support until his junior year of high school. During Cho's last two years at Virginia Tech, teachers and classmates grow concerned over several instances of his abnormal behavior and his writings, which often included graphic violence.
From Chos story above, can you identify some of the “turning points” in his life?
How could these “turning points” have changed his life, positively or negatively?
Was there anything that could been done to change the outcome of his life?
LO3.
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A cornerstone of age graded theory is the influence of social capital on behavior
Social capital:
Positive relations with individuals and institutions that support conventional behavior and inhibit deviant behavior
Losing or wasting social capital increases the likelihood of getting involved in delinquency
DEVELOPING SOCIAL CAPITAL
LO3.
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Several indicators support the validity of age graded theory
Research has shown that children who grow up in two parent homes are more likely to have happier marriages
Youths who accumulate social capital in childhood are most likely to maintain steady work as adults
TESTING AGE-GRADED THEORY
LO3.
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Age-graded theory places a lot of emphasis on the stability brought about by romantic relationships
Kids headed toward a life of crime can veer off that path if they meet the right mate
Love is a primary conduit of informal social control
Only meaningful relationships seem to help prevent future crime: love, not sex
LOVE AND DELINQUENCY
LO3.
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Love and Delinquency Current Example
According to a study published in the American Sociological Review (2009), teenagers in love are less likely to commit crime. Young girls and boys who have romantic relationships or are in love usually dont get mixed up in crime and pernicious habits. At the same time, teens that have casual sex without being in love are more likely to get into trouble. According to the study, teenagers who have romantic sexual relationships and teenagers who abstain from sex are very unlikely to be involved in substance abused or other criminal behaviors. However, teens who have casual sex without romantic feelings have a much greater chance of becoming criminals.
Based on the discussion in your text, can you explain the correlation between “love” and “delinquency”?
Why is being “in love” a “social capital,” and how does it correlate in explaining delinquent behavior?
LO3.
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Suspected latent traits include:
Defective intelligence
Impulsive personality
Genetic abnormalities
Physical-chemical functioning of the brain
Environmental factors such as drug, chemicals, and injuries
The propensity or inclination to commit delinquency is stable, but the opportunity fluctuates over time
People age out of delinquency because, as they mature, there are simply fewer opportunities to commit such acts
Latent trait/propensity theory integrates trait theories with rational choice theories
THE LATENT TRAIT VIEW
LO4.
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Murder Rate in the Neighborhood and IQ Current Example
After analyzing more than 6,000 murders in the Chicago area and two surveys of children and families in Chicago neighborhoods, Professor Sharkey at New York University concluded that a murder in the neighborhood can significantly knock down a child's score on an IQ test, even if the child did not directly witness the killing or know the victim (2010). According to Sharkey, the results can also explain about half the achievement gap between blacks and whites on such tests.
Based on the discussion in your text, can you explain the correlation found in Professor Sharkeys study?
What major impacts does IQ have on our society as a whole?
LO4.
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Michael & Travis Hirschi
Integrated control with biosocial, psychological, routine activities, and rational choice theories
The Act and the Offender:
Delinquent acts are illegal events or deeds that people engage in when they perceive them to be advantageous
Delinquency is rational and predicable
Delinquents are predisposed to commit crimes
GENERAL THEORY OF CRIME
LO4.
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What makes people delinquency prone?
Low self-control immediate gratification
People with limited self-control tend to be impulsive
What causes low self-control?
Inadequate childrearing practices
Parents who are unwilling or unable to monitor a childs behavior, to recognize deviant behavior, and to punish bad behavior will usually produce children who lack self-control
GENERAL THEORY OF CRIME
LO4.
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FIGURE 5.2 THE GENERAL THEORY OF CRIME
One approach involves identifying indicators of impulsiveness and self-control
Impulsivity predicts the likelihood that a person will engage in criminal behavior
Another study has found that victims have lower self-control than non-victims
Criticism:
Circular reasoning
Personality disorder
Racial and gender differences
People change and so does their level of self-control
TESTING THE GENERAL THEORY OF CRIME
LO4.
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There is more than one path to crime and more than one class of offender; there are different trajectories in a delinquent career
Violent delinquents
Chronic offending trajectories
Pathways to Delinquency
The authority conflict pathway
The covert pathway
The overt pathway
TRAJECTORY THEORY
LO5.
*
According to Moffitt, there are two paths:
Adolescent-limited offenders:
Who get into minor scrapes as youth but whose misbehavior ends when they enter adulthood
Life-course persistent offenders:
Delinquents who begin their offending career at a very early age and continue to offend well into adulthood
“Abstainers”:
Social introverts whose unpopularity shields them from group pressure to commit delinquent acts
ADOLESCENT LIMITED AND LIFE COURSE PERSISTENT OFFENDERS
LO5.
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The developmental view is that a delinquent career must be understood as a path
People travel, and events and life circumstances influence the path
Life course theories
Emphasize the influence of changing interpersonal and structural factors
Latent trait theories
Assume that an individuals behavior is linked less to personal change than to changes in the surrounding world
The perspectives differ in their view of human development
Note these positions are NOT mutually exclusive
EVALUATING THE DEVELOPMENTAL VIEW
LO1.
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There have been a number of policy-based initiatives based on premises of developmental theory
Some programs aim to prevent delinquency in the long run by helping parents improve their parenting skills
This is another form of family support that has shown some success in preventing juvenile delinquency
Some provide a mixture of services
DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY AND DELINQUENCY PREVENTION
LO1.
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The foundation of Development Theory can be traced to the pioneering work of Sheldon and Eleanor Glueck
Life Course theory suggests that delinquent behavior is a dynamic process, influenced by individual characteristics and social experiences
Latent trait theory suggests that a stable feature, characteristics, property or condition makes some delinquency prone for life
Trajectory theorists recognize that career delinquents may travel more than a single road
SUMMARY
LO1-LO5.
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