Chapter 2: origins of criminal behavior/dev. of risk factors

Question 1

Developmental pathway

Answer 1

Term used in developmental perspective, views the life course of all humans as following a path that may be littered with risk factors.

Question 2

Protective factors

Answer 2

Characteristics or experiences that can shield children from serious antisocial behavior

Question 3

Social Risk factors

Answer 3

Poverty, limited resources, antisocial peers, peer rejection, preschool/school experiences

Question 4

Parental and family risk factors

Answer 4

faulty or inadequate parenting, sibling influences, child abuse

Question 5

Psychological risk factors

Answer 5

inadequate cognitive and language ability, lack of empathy, poor interpersonal/social skills, behavioral disorders.

Question 6

Cumulative Risk (CR) model

Answer 6

Accumulation of risk factors in the absence of sufficient protective factors results in negative behavioral, emotional, and cognitive outcomes. Predicts that the greater number of risks experienced by a child or adolescent, the greater the prevalence of mental health, cognitive deficits, and behavioral problems they may have.

Question 7

Developmental cascade model (dynamic cascade model)

Answer 7

introduced by Kenneth Dodge and Ann Masten.
Similar to CR model, but in addition to noting multiple risks, it highlights the interaction among risk factors and their effect on outcomes over the course of development. A person’s developmental skills of deficits enhance, affect, or determine the next skill or deficit over a life course trajectory (reminiscent of Erikson’s life crisis)

Question 8

Resilience

Answer 8

the ability to bounce back quickly and adaptively from negative emotional experiences.

Question 9

Poverty

Answer 9

A situation in which the basic resources to maintain an average standard living within a specific geographic region are lacking. Defined in U.S. as $22,000 per year for a family of 4.

Question 10

Peer rejection

Answer 10

One of the strongest predictors of later involvement in antisocial behavior is early rejection by peers. Evidence of cascade effect, where conduct disorders –> peer rejection –> depressive symptoms

Question 11

Groups of thought on influence of peer groups:

Answer 11

1) youngsters become delinquent as a direct result of association with deviant peer groups
2) antisocial, peer-rejected youths seek out greater contact with other peer-rejected, antisocial peers.
3) Peer-rejected, antisocial children are drawn to deviant groups with members similar to themselves, which amplifies already existing antisocial tendencies.

Question 12

Parental practices

Answer 12

Strategies employed by parents to achieve specific academic, social, or athletic goals across different contexts and situations.

Question 13

Parental styles

Answer 13

Refer to parent-child interactions characterized by parental attitudes toward the child and the emotional climate of the parent-child relationship

Question 14

Four types of parental styles

Answer 14

associated with Diana Baumrind

• Authoritarian
• Permissive
• Authoritative
• Neglecting

Question 15

Authoritarian style

Answer 15

Used by parents who try to shape, control, and evaluate the behavior of their children in accordance with their absolute standards. Characterized by rigid standards, to be obeyed without question or explanation

Question 16

Permissive style

Answer 16

Used by parents who display tolerant, accepting attitudes toward their children’s behavior, including expressions of aggression and sexual impulses. Avoid asserting authority, tries to be a friend first and parent last.

Question 17

Authoritative style

Answer 17

Used by parents who try to direct their children’s activities in a rational, issue-oriented manner. Expect age-appropriate behavior from children, applying firm and consistent standard yet encouraging individual thinking and independence.

Question 18

Neglecting style

Answer 18

Used by parents who demonstrate little to no attachment or involvement in their child’s life. Neglecting parenting was one of the strongest risk factors identified with delinquency and a life of crime.

Question 19

Enmeshed style

Answer 19

Associated with James Snyder and Gerald Patterson - two parenting styles that correspond with delinquency:
Parents see unusually large number of minor behaviors as problematic, using ineffective, authoritarian strategies to deal with them.

Question 20

Lax style

Answer 20

James Snyder/Gerald Patterson
similar to neglecting style, parents are not sufficiently attuned to what constitutes problematic or antisocial behavior in children, allowing much to slip by without disciplinary action .

Question 21

Parental monitering

Answer 21

Refers to parents’ awareness of their child’s peer associates, free-time activities, and physical whereabouts when outside the home. monitored youths are less likely to engage in delinquent and antisocial behavior.

Question 22

Attachment theory

Answer 22

John Bowlby
Suggesting that the early relationship between an infant and a caregiver largely determines the quality of social relationships later in life.

Question 23

Secure attachement

Answer 23

Infants who play comfortably when with parent, show distress when parent leaves, but can adjust and then is happy when parent returns. They use their parent as a secure base from which to explore.

Question 24

Insecure attachement

Answer 24

Divided into Anxious/Ambivalent and Avoidant styles

Question 25

Anxious/Ambivalent Insecure Attachment

Answer 25

Infant becomes intensely distressed by separation, clinging to parent without exploring around them. Who parent returns they become indifferent or even hostile, pushing parent away or crying when picked up again.

Question 26

Avoidant Insecure Attachment

Answer 26

Infant shows little to no distress whether parent is present or not. Rarely cry during separation or reunion, and often leads to dismissing attachment in adulthood.

Question 27

Language Impairment

Answer 27

Refers to problems expressing or understanding language. When occurring in early childhood, research shows language impairment to produce a serious cascading effect on healthy academic and social development.

Question 28

Psychometric approach

Answer 28

means “psychological measurement”, and is a term for IQ testing

Question 29

Psychometric Intelligence (PI)

Answer 29

What psychologists refer to when speaking of IQ tests and results, but the term has not caught on with the public.

Question 30

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Answer 30

Central three behaviors are 1) inattention - does not seem to listen, is easily distracted. 2) impulsivity - acts before thinking, shifts quickly from one activity to another. 3) excessive motor activity - cannot sit still, fidgets, runs about, is noisy and talkative . Is the leading psychological diagnosis for American children.

Question 31

Self-regulation

Answer 31

Refers to the ability to control one’s own behavior. It is not so much “not knowing” as “not doing”.

Question 32

Conduct Disorder (CD)

Answer 32

Characterized by persistent misbehavior including bullying, fighting, using or threatening weapon use on others, physical cruelty to people and animals, destruction of property, chronic deceitfulness, sexual assaults, and serious violations of rules. The patterns of behavior being “repetitive” and “persistent” are key to diagnosis. Isolated instances do not qualify as CD.

Question 33

Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)

Answer 33

Also called disruptive behavior disorders (DBD). Children and adolescents display a persistent pattern of angry outbursts, arguments, vindictiveness, resentment, and disobedience. Often is something a child grows out of, and does not have the serious correlation to delinquency as CD does.

Question 34

ADHD, ODD, CD…tied together

Answer 34

“delinquent boys usually traverse a developmental pathway that begins with severe hyperactive/impulsive behaviors as early as toddlerhood, followed by ODD in preschool, early-onset CD in elementary school, substance abuse disorders (SUDs) in adolescence, and antisocial personality in adulthood.”