criminology chapter 9 – Flashcards
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developmental criminology
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a more global vision of a criminal career, encompassing its onset, continuation, and termination A view of criminal behavior that places emphasis on the changes people go through over the life course. It presents a criminal career as a dynamic process involving onset, continuity, persistence, acceleration, and eventual desistance from criminal behavior, controlled by individual level traits and conditions.
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developmental theories
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theories which are models of crime causation that weave social and individual variables into a complex explanatory chain
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eleanor and sheldon Glueck
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founders of the developmental field of criminology "the deeper the roots of childhood maladjustment, the smaller the chance of adult adjustment
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core ideas of developmental theory
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Crime is a function of environmental, socialization, physical, and psychological factors. Each makes an independent contribution to shaping and directing behavior patterns. Deficits in these areas of human development increase the risk of crime. People at risk for crime can resist antisocial behaviors if these traits and conditions can be strengthened.
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criticisms of developmental theory sociologist Edwin sutherland
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wanted to keep criminology in the field of sociology and feared or disparaged efforts to integrate biological or psychological concepts into the field.
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modern outgrowths
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developmental theory, life course theory, propensity/latent trait theory, trajectory theory
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life course theories
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see criminality as a dynamic process, influenced by a multitude of individual characteristics, traits, and social experiences.
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life course theories interconnect
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personal factors social factors socialization factors cognitive factors situational factors
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trajectories
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pathways through the life span-patterns or transitions over time
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turning points of crime
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positive life experiences such as gaining employment, getting married, or joining the military that create informal social control that alter the development of a criminal career.
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problem behavior syndrome
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a cluster of antisocial behaviors that may inlcude family dysfunction, substance abuse, smoking, precosious sexuality, and early pregnancy. Educational acheivement, suicide attempts, sensation seeking, and unemployment as well as crime. Crime is just on type of social problem not the product of other social problems.
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human agency
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the purposeful execution of choice and free will that can help people desist from crime.
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persistance or desistance
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what may help a person resist a life of crime while they are still in their teens, may have little impact once they reach their twenties.
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persistance factor age of onset
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the younger they start the more strong a predictor if they continue- starting early in delinquent behavior creates a downward spiral in a young person's life. The causes of early onset include: poor parental discipline and monitoring, inadequate emotional support, distant peeer relationships, psychological issues and problems.
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cumulative disadvantage
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negative things can happen and have different weights attached to them. some more than others. Problems can compound exponentially
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social capital
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positive relations with individuals and institutions that are life sustaining
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principle life course theories
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social development model interactional theory
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Life course theory social development model
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community level risk factors risk factors either reinforced or neutralized a child must maintain prosocial bonds prosocial or antisocial behavior determines quality of attachments prosocial path inhibits deviance without bonding deviance occurs
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liffe course theory interaction theory
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focus on weak bonds weak bonds lead to deviant friends changes as person matures crime is bidirectional
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Propensity/ latent trait theories
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David Rowe and Wayne osgood and alan nicewander proposed a concept of latent trait. This model assumes that a number of people in the population have a personal attribute or characteristic that controls their inclination or propensity to commit crime
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propensity
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an inclination or tendency to behave in a particular way
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latent trait
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a stable feature, characteristic, property, or condition, present at birth or soon after, that makes some people crime prone over the life course.
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Latent trait theory cognitive antisocial potential theory
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david farrington latent trait: antisocial potential The commission of offenses or other antisocial acts depends on interaction between the individual and their immediate AP and the social environment
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Latent trait theory coercion theory
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Mark colvin Perceptions of coercion begins early in life when children experience punitive forms of discipline destructive family interchanges ingrains coercion and guides reactions to adverse situations that arise in family and nonfamily settings
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Latnt trait theory control balance theory
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Charles tittle conformity results with the amount of control one is subjected to by others and the amount of control one can exercise over others is in balance.
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Most prominent latent trait theory Gottfredson and Hirschi's general theory of crime
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propensity to commit crime linked to two latent traits impulsive personality lack of self control
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Trajectory theory
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There is more than one path to crime and more than one class of offender and there are different trajectories in a criminal career. Because people are different, no single model can hope to describe every person's journey through life
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3 paths to a criminal career
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authority conflict pathway the covert pathway overt pathway
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terri moffitt Adolescent limited offenders vs life course persisters adolescent limited offenders
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offender who follows the most common criminal trajectory, in which antisocial behavior peaks in adolescence and then diminishes
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terri moffitt Adolescent limited offenders vs life course persisters life course persisters
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one of the small groups of offenders whose criminal career continues well into adulthood.
