offender desistance

Question 1

how does age affect desistance?

Answer 1

• decline in physical strength, lost contact with antisocial peers, maturation
• learning to evade detection, ongoing antisocial behaviour that does lead to arrest

Question 2

Physiological changes

Answer 2

dopamine receptors decrease with age, norepinephrine decreases with age, testosterone is high in adolescence

Question 3

neurobiology (testosterone, receptor genes) Shaal et al., 1996

Answer 3

high testosterone linked with ratings of toughness and leadership, but not aggression
-certain dopamine receptor genes DRD2&DRD4 have negative relationship with delinquency abstention for males only

Question 4

the genius-age link (Kanazawa, 2003)

Answer 4

• scientific productivity fades rapidly with age
• most sig contributors occur during the five years around 30
• women did not have the same curve as men

Question 5

evolutionary process of aggression

Answer 5

competitive effort
-leads to productivity of different kinds, increases ones reproductive success, maybe men find it evolutionary to gain mates and children

Question 6

different trajectories within the curve

Answer 6

• around 70% follow the curve (Blokland et al. 2005)
• 50% are in the process of desisting, initial severity level and number of offences important (wiesner & Capaldi, 2003)
• age of onset a predictor in how long careers last, still finish at the same age (Ezell 2007)

Question 7

desistance and substance abuse

Answer 7

substance abuse accelerates antisocial behaviour and hinders desistance

• substance abuse and crime tend to increase and decrease together
• substance abstinence does not guarantee crime abstinence