Oct 02, 2015 · Similarly, other individuals may commit crime at one developmental phase of the life-course and desist from crime in this same developmental phase; others may continue to participate in crime in several developmental phases of the life-course before desisting at some point later in life (if at all).
May 06, 2016 · Life course theories further argue that in order to understand criminality, one must consider these multiple causal factors over the life course, and that different factors may be more or less important at varying stages within the life course and may serve to initiate, reinforce, or even reduce criminal activity.
Mar 20, 2018 · Life course theory can more easily and more fully account for such factors and how people’s lives are determined by a mixture of human agency, social context, and structural constraint. ***** I think these represent the major differences between life course theory and the bioecological model. I hope this has been helpful for some of you out there!
Prior to the development of life course theory, social scientists explained human behavior in two ways. First, a social relations approach was used to examine the effects social structures such as marriage and family had on individuals. Subcategories of this approach include functionalism, exchange theory, and ecological systems theory.
It encourages greater attention to the impact of historical and social change on human behavior, which seems particularly important in rapidly changing societies. Because it attends to biological, psychological, and social processes in the timing of lives, it provides multidimensional understanding of human lives.Aug 12, 2014
Life course theory has five distinct principles: (a) time and place; (b) life-span development; (c) timing; (d) agency; and (e) linked lives. We used these principles to examine and explain high-risk pregnancy, its premature conclusion, and subsequent mothering of medically fragile preterm infants.
In general, developmental/life-course theories focus on offending behavior over time (e.g., trajectories) and on dimensions of the criminal career and make an effort to identify risk and protective factors that relate to life-course patterns of offending.Oct 2, 2015
Developmental or life-course theory focuses on the individual and following such individuals throughout life to examine their offending careers. This perspective puts a lot of emphasis on life events, often referred to as transitions, which significantly affect an individual's trajectory in criminal behavior.
The life course approach emphasizes that the health of one age group should not be considered in isolation from that of others, and raises broad social and environmental, as well as medical, considerations.
They include: (1) socio-historical and geographical location; (2) timing of lives; (3) heterogeneity or variability; (4) "linked lives" and social ties to others; (5) human agency and personal control; and (6) how the past shapes the future. Each of these tenets will be described and key concepts will be highlighted.
The life-course perspective gives increased importance to social structure, whereas the developmental approach generally tends to focus more on psychological factors to explain developmental processes.
Piaget's Cognitive Developmental Theory Cognitive theory is concerned with the development of a person's thought processes. It also looks at how these thought processes influence how we understand and interact with the world. Theorist Jean Piaget proposed one of the most influential theories of cognitive development.Jun 22, 2020
Life-course theory argues that crime patterns vary across the course of an 7. individual's life in response to different causal factors (Sampson and Laub. 1993, 2005a, 2005b; Laub and Sampson 2003). Theorists in this paradigm. argue that both persistent offending and desistance can be understood using 1.
Propensity or Latent Trait Theory suggests that a stable feature, characteristic, property, or condition, such as defective intelligence or impulsive personality, makes some people crime prone over the life course.
Life course theory suggests that the development of a criminal career is a dynamic process. Behavior is influenced by individual characteristics as well as social experiences, and the factors that cause antisocial behaviors change dramatically over a person's life span.
An enormous body of life course research describes individual developmental trajectories (life pathways) in accordance with the sequence, impact, and cumulative influence of life events on a range of outcomes from childbearing to transition into and out of the workforce.
Using recent research from the fields of public health, medicine, human development, and social sciences, the LCHD framework shows that. Health is a consequence of multiple determinants operating in nested genetic, biological, behavioral, social, and economic contexts that change as a person develops.
For example, the future measurement of biomarkers, such as cortisol or corticotrophin releasing factor (CRF) levels in young children, or a set of emerging biomarkers, may have uses in identifying children at developmental risk for disease or disabilities that will be diagnosed decades later.
Life Course Theories: Life course theories represent an integrated approach to explaining criminality, and accept that multiple social, personal, economic, and other factors influence crime. Life course theories further argue that in order to understand criminality, one must consider these multiple causal factors over the life course, ...
Farrington’s theory of delinquent development derived from research conducted as part of a Cambridge study of delinquent development, which followed the offending careers of 411 London boys born in 1953. This study used self-report and interview data, as well as psychological testing, and collected data from the subjects at eight times over a 24-year period, beginning when subjects were eight years old. This study, in agreement with previously developed life course theories, found the existence of chronic offenders, the continuity of offending, and the presence of early onset leading to persistent criminality. Farrington found that the chronic criminal is typically male, and is born into low-income large families, which have parents and siblings with criminal records or prior offending and in which parents are likely to be separated or divorced. It was found that parenting was an important factor predicting future criminality. The future criminal receives poor parental supervision, including the use of harsh or erratic punishment. The signs of later criminal behaviour were manifest as early as age eight, when such persons already exhibited anti-social behaviour, including dishonesty and aggressiveness. At school, such individuals had low educational achievement and were described as restless, troublesome, hyperactive, impulsive, and truant. It was also found that the chronic offender associated with friends who also exhibited anti-social behaviour. The study also found that the typical offender provided the same kind of deprived and disrupted family life for his own children, and thus the social conditions and experiences that produce delinquency are transmitted from one generation to the next.
An integrated approach recognizes that crime is a complex, multidimensional phenomenon with multiple causes. By integrating a variety of ecological, socialization, psychological, biological, and economic factors into a coherent structure, such theories overcome the shortcomings of older theories that may be criticized on the grounds of reductionism. That is, many older theories of crime argue that one causal variable is predominantly important as a cause of crime. A problem with such an approach is that not all persons exposed to that variable (for example, poverty) commit crime. Integrated theories recognize that multiple social and individual factors interact to result in the eventual behaviour of individuals, and that we must consider the constellation of factors in an individual’s life in order to understand his or her behaviour.
Most notably, the social development model synthesizes control, social learning, and differential association theory, while acknowledging other associated factors not accounted for by these theories, such as position in the social structure, acquired skills, and constitutional (biological) factors.
The second multi-factor theory that will be examined is Elliott’s integrated theory (Elliott, Ageton and Canter, 1979). This theory combines the principles of strain, control and social learning theories into a single theoretical framework. This theory specifies a causal pathway in which strain leads to the weakening of social bonds with conventional others and institutions, leading to greater association with deviant peers and the subsequent learning of anti-social and delinquent values. Specifically, adolescents who live in socially disorganized neighbourhoods or who are improperly socialized have an increased risk of perceiving strain. The perceptions of strain can lead to the weakening of bonds with conventional groups, activities and norms. Such weakened bonds, in conjunction with high levels of strain, lead to the rejection of conventional values and encourage youths to seek out deviant peer groups. Such deviant associations create the environment for the social learning and reinforcement of anti-social values and behaviour. This essentially increases delinquent and criminal behaviour.
According to the theory, the child’s risk emerges from inherited or acquired neuropsychological variation, initially manifested in subtle cognitive deficits, difficult temperament, or hyperactivity. The environment’s risk comprises factors such as inadequate parenting, disrupted family bonds and poverty.
Interactional Theory. Interactional theory is another integrated life course theory of criminality, and was developed by Thornberry (1987) and Thornberry and Krohn (2005). There are three fundamental aspects of interactional theory. The first is that the theory takes a life course perspective.
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Life course theory, a sociological framework, was used to analyze the phenomenon of becoming a mother, with longitudinal narrative data from 34 women who gave birth prematurely after a high-risk pregnancy, and whose infant became medically fragile. Women faced challenges of mistimed birth and mothering a technologically-dependent infant.
Interviews were conducted at five time points: at study enrollment, which occurred once the infant was expected to survive for at least several months; 1 month after discharge home; and then at approximately 6, 12, and 16 months of age, corrected for prematurity.
First, a social relations approach was used to examine the effects social structures such as marriage and family had on individuals. Subcategories of this approach include functionalism, exchange theory, and ecological systems theory.
Becoming a mother means moving from a known to an unknown reality (Mercer, 2004). The decision to become a mother is characterized by ambivalence, calculation of the timing of pregnancy, and determination of effects on significant relationships (Sevon, 2005).
Mothers frequently referred to informational technology (electronic fetal monitoring [EFM], ultrasonography, photography, infant monitors) and supportive technology (ventilators and feeding tubes). Both types of technology were simultaneously reassuring and confusing as meanings of these data were often ambiguous.
Medically fragile refers to infants with life-threatening chronic illness who are, at least temporarily, technology-dependent, and who have health sequelae requiring extended hospitalization or frequent rehospitalization (Miles, Holditch-Davis, Burchinal, & Nelson, 1999).
Piaget's Cognitive Developmental Theory. Cognitive theory is concerned with the development of a person's thought processes. It also looks at how these thought processes influence how we understand and interact with the world. Theorist Jean Piaget proposed one of the most influential theories of cognitive development.
There is a great deal of research on the social development of children. John Bowbly proposed one of the earliest theories of social development. Bowlby believed that early relationships with caregivers play a major role in child development and continue to influence social relationships throughout life. 3
An understanding of child development is essential because it allows us to fully appreciate the cognitive, emotional, physical, social, and educational growth that children go through from birth and into early adulthood.
Sociocultural Theory. Child development theories focus on explaining how children change and grow over the course of childhood. Such theories center on various aspects of development including social, emotional, and cognitive growth. The study of human development is a rich and varied subject.
Developmental psychologists strive to answer such questions as well as to understand, explain, and predict behaviors that occur throughout the lifespan. In order to understand human development, a number of different theories of child development have arisen to explain various aspects of human growth.
According to Freud, conflicts that occur during each of these stages can have a lifelong influence on personality and behavior. Freud proposed one of the best-known grand theories of child development.
Erikson's eight-stage theory of psychosocial development describes growth and change throughout life, focusing on social interaction and conflicts that arise during different stages of development.
Desistance and developmental theories focus on why there is a dramatic decrease or end in the number of crimes a person commits after adolescence. These life course frameworks are built from the foundations of theories that examine why people commit crime and then seek to answer why people stop.
The first framework is rational choice theory (Cornish and Clarke, 1986), which attempts to explain the relationship between criminal activity and long-term access to economic opportunity. This framework assumes that offenders calculate the tradeoff between the costs and benefits of committing a crime and the long-term economic opportunities in the noncriminal job market. If an offender finds that the ability to earn legitimate wages outweighs the net payoff associated with committing more crime, then that person will become less involved in criminal activity. Theories about routine activities (Hindelang et al., 1978) also fit within the rational choice framework. These theories of crime argue that the more time a person spends with family and the longer he or she has steady employment, the less likely that person will be to commit crime.
Employment is central to desistance theories, because having a job reinforces social conformity (Sampson and Laub, 1993). Stable employment can lead to desistance, since offenders are more likely to experience close and frequent contact with conventional others in the workplace, ultimately becoming more likely to conform themselves (Warr, 1998). Sampson and Laub (1993:141) state that both marriage and employment transitions are “characterized by an extensive set of obligations, expectations, and interdependent social networks.” Like marriage, employment can create new situations with supervision and monitoring, as well as new opportunities of social support and a change in routine activities with the opportunity for identity transformations.
Most theorists recognize that desistance is a multifaceted process for offenders who continually engage in criminal behavior. LeBlanc and Fréchette (1989) outlined four subcomponents of criminal desistance: de-escalation, deceleration, reaching a ceiling, and specialization.
Thus, criminal behavior is no longer reinforced through peer groups. Marriage and steady employment have a direct negative effect on time spent with peers, mediating the relationship between noncriminal and peer associations. In other words, time spent with peers has a direct effect on whether a person commits crime in adulthood.
This research summary is designed to help inform practitioners and others who will be involved in the Second Chance Act (SCA) Demonstration Field Experiment (DFE). The SCA DFE will provide a rigorous test of a specific reentry model intended to improve offender outcomes post-release. Some of the outcomes of interest include, but are not limited to, re-offending and re-incarceration (recidivism).
His theory of four stages of cognitive development, first presented in the mid-20th century, is one of the most famous and widely-accepted theories in child cognitive development to this day. Jean Piaget: Piaget’s theory of child development is still one of the most widely accepted in modern psychology.
The four stages of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development correspond with the age of the child; they include the sensorimotor , preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational stages.
In order to demonstrate the importance of social and emotional development in people , Harry Harlow studied the attachment patterns of Rhesus monkeys. This was based on the belief of John Bowlby that maternal attachment is a necessity for proper emotional and social development. Harlow raised baby Rhesus monkeys in a nursery-type setting away from their mothers; he gave them surrogate mothers made out of wire and wood, to which the babies developed attachment bonds. His alternative rearing technique, also called maternal deprivation, is considered highly controversial today.
From birth to 12 months of age, infants must learn that adults can be trusted. This occurs when adults meet a child’s basic needs for survival. Infants are dependent upon their caregivers, so caregivers who are responsive and sensitive to their infant’s needs help their baby to develop a sense of trust; their baby will see the world as a safe, predictable place. Unresponsive caregivers who do not meet their baby’s needs can engender feelings of anxiety, fear, and mistrust; their baby may see the world as unpredictable. If infants are treated cruelly or their needs are not met appropriately, they will likely grow up with a sense of mistrust for people in the world.
John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth were two prominent researchers who advanced the theory of attachment as related to human development. John Bowlby conceived of four stages of attachment that begin during infancy: preattachment, attachment-in-the-making, clear-cut attachment, and formation of reciprocal relationships.
Carol Gilligan (1982), a research assistant of Kohlberg, criticized her former mentor’s theory because it was based so narrowly on research using white, upper-class men and boys. She argued that women are not deficient in their moral reasoning and instead proposed that males and females reason differently: girls and women focus more on staying connected and maintaining interpersonal relationships.
object permanence: The understanding (typically developed during early infancy) that an object still exists even when it disappears from sight or other senses.
Control theory is a social process explanation that focuses on social bonds that reduce the risk of delinquent involvement. According to control theory, delinquency is more likely among youth who lack social bonds and positive social interactions among parents and peers.
Lawrence Cohen and Marcus Felson (1979) developed a version of rational choice theory called routine activity theoryto help explain trends and cycles in the crime rate since the 1960s.
Robert Agnew (1992) extended Merton’s theory of strain and anomie to better explain varieties of delinquent behaviorthrough the general strain theory. Agnew identified three sources of strain: 1 Strain caused by the failure to achieve positively valued goals, basically the same as Merton’s theory of anomie. 2 Strain caused by the removal of positively valued stimulifrom the individual. Examples include the loss of a girl/boy friend, death of a loved one, divorce or separation of parents, or leaving friends and moving to a new neighborhood or school. 3 Strain as the presentation of negative stimuli, such as child abuse and neglect, physical punishment, family and peer conflict, stressful life conditions, school failure, and criminal victimization (see Agnew, 1992, p. 57).
The two main theories of causes of delinquency that I am most familiar with are strain theory and rational choice theory . Rational choice theory explains that it takes a decision to commit crime, and that offender has a choice whether or not to commit that said crime.
75–77): Criminal behavior is learned. Criminal behavior is a process of communication, learned in interaction with other persons. The principal part of the learning of criminal behavior occurs within intimate personal groups.
When criminal behavior is learned, the learning includes (a) techniques of committing the crime; and (b) the specific direction of motives, drives, rationalizations, and attitudes. The specific direction of the motives and drives is learned from definitions of the legal codes as favorable or unfavorable.
The three main components of the routine activity theory include the, ” availability of suitable targets of crime; the absence of capable guardians; and the presence of motivated offenders”.
Developmental approaches are based on how individual humans and human entities grow, mature, and compare to one another. Thus, these theories are explicitly or implicitly concerned with the hierarchical process of aging even if they do not identify that focus.
the most widely used conceptual approaches to describing and explaining human activity, appearance, and experience are developmental.From word soup, we ladle the following synonyms for the term development: expansion, elaboration, growth, evolution, unfolding, opening, maturing, maturation, maturity, ripeness (Dictionary.com, n.d.).
Grand and specific theories are concerned with human movement and growth. Although not directly addressed in most theories, a hierarchy from least to most desirable—whether expressed as immature to mature, limited to fully developed, and so forth—is implicit in developmental theories.