Developemntal and integrated theories Flashcards
Developemtnal Theories
Human personality and behavioural patterns emerge through a developmental process that unfolds from birth onward
What occurs early in life may shape what occurs later in life
Criminology had traditionally ignored the work on the life course
Focused on sociology and had little interest is how individuals developed over time
Rather, focused on what happens when an individual is placed in a certain social context
Developmental perspectives are dynamic
Studies whether an individuals behaviour remains stable or changes over time
Traditional criminological theories are static
Assumescontexts have stable and enduring effectos on people caught in theme
Pays little attention to what occurs inc childhood; rather often focus on adolescnnce or adulthood
This lack of focus on the childhood is probably a result of two factors:
Participation in crime peaks in the teenage years (around seventeen or eighteen), thus the relevance of childhood was not apparent
It made sense to ask about the teen/juvenile years
Studying juveniles was practical (Captive audience)
Teens were an ideal population to investigate because it was easy to survey them in school and get self-report data
developmental perspectives
The earliest research on adolescents was cross-sectional (Roughnecks, looked back and accessed criminal records)
Does not follow youth over time, but rather studies, subjects at one point in time
Time-and cost-effective
Cannot consider factors that occur over time
Logtitudianl research studies subjects over time (Glcuks research, incorporating the body type, environment over a period of time)
Can see how early events in life impact later life events
Difficult, requires teams of researchers, cost-and time-intensive
Unravelling Juvelile Delinqunecy
They studied delinquent boys
Overall, found delinquency results from the interplay among somatic, temperamental, attitudinal, psycholical, intellectual foruces
Assign
special importance to biological and psycholgicla factors while discouting the importance of social factors
Aruge that societal factors are important but do not have a casual effect
Rather, these factors are another reflection of individual traits and ealy family problems that cause delinquency
This research has three important contributions:
Embraces a multifactor approach where the causes of crime were driven by the data, not a single theory
Showed early antisocial behaviour was related to later criminal behaviour and thus criminal involvement was a dynamic developmental process
Good deal of stability from youth to early adulthood
Criminal involvement is developmental; what happens at one stage in life influences what happens at the next
Showed antisocial youths not only are shaped by their circumstances but also impact the social world
They are architects of their future and can knife off opportunities
Three theoretical implications:
Central causes of crime lie in childhood
Theories focusing on what happens in the teen years are incomplete if not incorrect
The link between childhood and later deviance shows a dynamic developmental process
developemntal theories
Developmental theories of crime attempt to explain why people develop into and out of crime
They all tend to agree that childhood is a time during which a criminal trajectory starts, which they all onset
Also agree that some individual differences in the propensity for crime are established early in the life course
Use the term heterogeneity to describe how people vary in their orientation toward criminal conduct
Develoepmtnal theories can be divided into three categories:
Theories of continuity (chronic offenders)
- Behaviour is continuous and stable
Theories of continuity or change (sports as a pathway to get you out of crime)
- Behaviour is either continuous/stable or begins one pathway and departs, heading in an alternative direction
Theories of continuity and change
- Behaviour is continuous/stable but can also begin on one pathway and depart, heading is an alternative direction
Theories of continuity
Individual trait perspectives tend to be theories of continuity
Argue that once a trait emerges or becomes part of someone’s personality, this trait is hard to get rid of
The person carries the criminogenic trait across time and social contexts
Since the trait si enduring, the involvement in crime us also enduring
Sociological theories are implicitly continuity theories
Imply once a person is criminal, he or she remains criminal
Rarely address desistance; however, some do (Sampson and Laub)
Theories of Continuity or Change
These theories argue there are two different pathways, with one marked by continuity and the other marked by change
Moffitt argues the peak of crime in the teenage years seen in the age-crime curve conceals two groups that take different developmental pathways into crime
Her two-group taxonomy includes
Life-course-persistent offenders (LCPs)
Adolescence-limited offenders (ALs)
During adolescence, the age crime curve peaks because both the LCPs and the ALs are offending
Moffitt: “Pathways in the life course to crime”
Life course persistent offenders start antisocial acts early and continue their waywardness into and beyond adolescence
Continuity is the hallmark of this group
Make up small percentage of the population (roughly 5 percent)
Their antisocial behaviour is stable from preschool to adult hood and across social contexts (e.g., home, school, work)
The underlying antisocial disposition remains the same, but its expression changes form as new social opportunities arise
Bite at age four, skip school at age ten, steal at age sixteen, sell drugs at age, twenty, rob at age thirty, etc
Importing their behavior into the prison
Life course persistent offenders
The developmental process begins with neuropsychological deficits
Normal brain development is disrupted through pre or postnatal exposure to drugs, poor nutrition, injury, exposure to toxins, lack of stimulation, etc., resulting in psychological deficits
Leads to high activity levels, irritability, poor self control, low cognitive ability, etc
Verbal and executive function are particularly important and have been found to be associated with antisocial behaviour across the life course
Verbal deficits affects listening, reading, problem solving, expressive speech, writing, and memory
Executive functioning produced a compartmental learning disability
Includes inattention and impulsivity
Neuropsychological
Neuropsychological refers to anatomical structures and physiological processes within the nervous system that influence psychological characteristics such as teperam\ent, behavioral development, and/or cognitive abilities
Neuropsychological deficits impact a child’s cognitive, motor, and/or personality development
Low birth weights and symptoms of brain dysfunction have been shown to be related to difficult temperaments at ages one, two, and three and other problems as the child ages ( e.g., overactivity, impulsivity, temper tantrums, poor attention, poor school performance), which is linked to even further antisocial behaviour in the future
neuropsychological deficits, on these children
In addition to neuropsychological deficits, these children are not born into intact, wealthy families
Rather, these vulnerable children are born into disadvantaged families
Often raised in criminogenic environments and see stability in aggression across generation
Parents and children resemble one another on temperament, personality, and cognitive abilities
Parents often lack the psychical and psychological resources to handle a difficult child
