Criminology Chapter 9: Developmental Theories, Life Course, Latent Trait, And Trajectory

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Developmental Criminology

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A view of criminology 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, community, persistence, acceleration, and eventual resistance from criminal behavior, controlled by individual level traits and conditions.

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Life Course Theories

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Theoretical Views studying changes in criminal offending patterns over a person's entire life.

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Latent Trait Theories

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Theoretical views that criminal behavior is controlled by a master trait, present at birth or soon after, that remains stable and unchanging throughout a person's lifetime.

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Trajectory Theory

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A view of criminal career formation that holds there are multiple paths to crime. It explains the existence of different types of classes of criminals and measures different criminal paths.

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Problem Behavior Syndrome (PBS)

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A cluster of antisocial behaviors that may include family dysfunction, substance abuse, smoking, precocious (advanced for one's age) sexuality and early pregnancy, educational underachievement, suicide attempts, sensation seeking, and unemployment as well as crime.

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Integrated Theories

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Models of crime causation that weave social and individual variables into a complex explanatory chain.

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Age-Graded Theories

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A developmental theory that posits that
-Individual traits and childhood experiences are important to understand the onset criminal and delinquent behavior.
-Experiences in young adulthood and beyond can redirect criminal trajectories or paths.
-Serious problems in adolescence undermine (are the foundation of) life chances.
-Positive life experiences and relationships can help a person knife off from a criminal career path.
-Positive life experiences such as gaining employment, getting married or joining the military create informal social control mechanisms that limit criminal behavior opportunities.
-Former criminals may choose to desist form crime because they find more conventional paths more beneficial and rewarding.
This shows how crime is a developmental process that shifts in direction over the life course. It focuses on identifying critical points in the life course that produce crime and analyzes the association between social capital and crime.

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Cumulative Disadvantage

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A condition in which repeated negative experiences in adolescence undermine life chances and reduce employability and social relations. People who increase their cumulative disadvantage risk continued offending.

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Turning Points

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According to Laub and Sampson, the life events that alter the development of a criminal career.

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Social Capital

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Positive relations with individuals and institutions that are life sustaining.

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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. This explains the continuity of crime and chronic offending.

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State Dependence

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The propensity (natural tendency) to commit crime profoundly and permanently disrupts normal socialization. Early rule breaking strengthens criminal motivation and increases the probability of future rule breaking.

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General Theory of Crime (GTC)

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According to Gottfredson and Hirschi, a developmental theory that modifies social control theory by integrating concepts from biosocial, psychological, routine activities, and rational choice theories. Shows that crime and other aspects of social life are interactive and developmental. It measures associations among impulsivity, low self-control, and criminal behaviors.

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Self-Control

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A strong moral sense that renders a person incapable of hurting others or violating social norms.

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Self-Control Theory

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According to Gottfredson and Hirschi, the view that the cause of delinquent behavior is an impulsive (acting without forethought of doing it) personality. Kids who are impulsive may find that their bond to society is weak.

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Authority Conflict Pathway

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The path to a criminal career that begins with early stubborn behavior and defiance of parents.

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Covert Pathway

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A path to a criminal career that begins with minor underhanded behavior and progresses to fire starting and theft.

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Overt Pathway

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Pathway to a criminal career that begins with minor aggression, leads to physical fighting, and eventually escalates to violent crime.

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Adolescent-Limited Offenders

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Offender who follows the most common criminal trajectory, in which antisocial behavior peaks in adolescence and the diminishes. People begin their criminal activities at different points in their lives. It explains why most adolescent misbehavior is limited to youthful misadventures. It measures the starting and stopping points of criminal activity.

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Life Course Persisters

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One of the small groups of offenders whose criminal career continues well into adulthood.

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Interactional Theory

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Criminals go through lifestyle changes during their offending career. Crime influences lifestyle and changing lifestyle influences crime. Combines sociological and physiological theories. Focuses on identifying crime-producing interpersonal interactions and their reciprocal effects.

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Integrated Cognitive Antisocial Potential (ICAP) Theory

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People with antisocial potential (AP) are at risk to commit antisocial acts. AP can be viewed as both a long and short term phenomenon. It identifies different types of criminal propensities (natural tendencies) and shows how they may influence behavior in both the short and long term.

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Differential Coercion Theory

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Individuals exposed to coercive environments develop social-psychological deficits that enhance their probability of engaging in criminal behavior. This explains why a feeling of coercion is a mater trait that determines behavior. It measures the sources of coercion.

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Control Balance Theory

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A person's "control ratio" influences his or her behavior. This explains how the ability to control one''s environment is a mater trait. It measures control balance and imbalance.