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.
The life course as developmental theory The pioneering longitudinal studies of child development (all launched in the 1920s and 1930s) were extended well beyond childhood. Indeed, they eventually followed their young study members up to the middle years and later life. In doing so, they generated issues that could not be addressed satisfa …
This interest has ushered in a number of methodologically sophisticated and important contributions thus far. Having said this, there is certainly room for this theoretical perspective to grow, as well as a place for continued empirical assessments on the validity of developmental/life-course theories.
Taken together, developmental/life-course theories and developmental/life-course research can still be considered to be in its relative infancy compared with more-traditional criminological theories such as social bonding (Hirschi, 1969) and social learning (Akers, 1973) theories.
An assumption made continually by life-course theory supporters regards human behavior as being affected by nurture rather than nature. The theory recognizes that not one human is identical, but instead establishes that there are typical life phrases that are experienced in typical patterns.
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.
Developmental and life-course theories of crime are collectively characterized by their goal of explaining the onset, persistence, and desistance of offending behavior over the life-course.
In their sample of 500 male offenders born in the 1920s, these turning points included marriage, military service, employment, and other ways of cutting off their social ties to their offending peer group. These findings have had broad influence in criminology world-wide.
The life course perspective or life course theory (LCT) is a multidisciplinary approach to understanding the mental, physical and social health of individuals, which incorporates both life span and life stage concepts that determine the health trajectory.
Freud's Psychosexual Developmental Theory Freud proposed one of the best-known grand theories of child development. According to Freud's psychosexual theory, child development occurs in a series of stages focused on different pleasure areas of the body.
From the above, we can conclude that the Theory of conditioned reflex is not a Theory of development.
According to Sampson and Laub, marriage and this factor are the two most critical turning points in a criminal career. The three factors linked to predatory crime rates in routine activities theory are a supply of motivated offenders, a supply of suitable targets and this factor.
By locating and analyzing the sample of males collected by the Gluecks, what did Laub and Sampson conclude with regard to desistance? Desistance from delinquency is the norm.
What is the key difference between instrumental theorists and structural theorists? Structural theorist focus on anyone who threatens the capitalist system. What type of research methodology is a critical criminologist most likely to employ?
Three types of time are central to a life course perspective: individual time, generational time, and historical time (Price, McKenry, and Murphy 2000).
Examples include: an individual who gets married at the age of 20 is more likely to have a relatively early transition of having a baby, raising a baby and sending a child away when a child is fully grown up in comparison to his/her age group.
Three important themes of the life course perspective—timing of lives, diversity in life course trajectories, and human agency—are particularly useful for engaging diverse individuals and social groups.
Developmental and life-course criminology are both concerned with the study of changes in offending and problem behaviors over time. Although these two theoretical approaches share some common features, they also differ in the concepts that they deem to be of focal concern.
Elder’s various works are often regarded as classic readings within the life-course paradigm. Elder 1995 offers an overview of the life-course perspective. Giele and Elder 1998 discusses some of the methodological issues associated with life-course research.
Oxford Bibliographies Online is available by subscription and perpetual access to institutions. For more information or to contact an Oxford Sales Representative click here.
As a result of this conclusion, the term ‘theoretical integration’ is often used when discussing life-course theory.
The main study to test the validity of the life-course theory was conducted by Laub and Sampson, who extraordinarily were able to follow the participants for an extremely long period of time which is a difficult task to accomplish in the social science field.
Factors in the childhood stage would include developmental events concerning mainly parental guidance (or lack thereof). A common factor throughout childhood is the one parent household case in which studies have shown cause a higher risk for criminal activity later in one’s life.
The life course perspective is a broad approach that can be used in a variety of subject matters such as psychology, biology, history, and criminology. As a theory, the denotation establishes the connection between a pattern of life events and the actions that humans perform s.
When putting the theory into practice, key assumptions should be acknowledge. An assumption made continually by life- course theory supporters regards human behavior as being affected by nurture rather than nature.
The history of the theory partially stems from the 1920’s theorist, Karl Mannheim, who wrote the groundbreaking dissertation, The Sociological Problem of Generations.
From a criminological stance, the aspect of Mannheim’s discovery on the importance of influence is the primary focus. Although Mannheim’s research helped expand the life-course approach, generally in the social sciences field W.I Thomas and F. Znaniecki are the two sociologists credited to having ignited the broad theory.
With distinct advances since the 1980s, developmental, life-course criminology has expanded to become one of the most prominent subdivisions in the field of criminology, as the knowledge gained from this perspective has propelled the field forward. Although studies of gangs and gang membership predate the emergence of developmental, life-course criminology, the proliferation of research in both of these areas shares many parallels. Furthermore, increased applications of developmental, life-course perspectives to gang-related research, as well as scholars’ continued efforts to generate life-course-rooted theories specific to gang delinquency, can and have benefited the study of gangs.
Some of the life-course models and theories commonly applied in studies of gangs include Sampson and Laub’s age-graded theory of informal social control, Hawkins and colleagues’ social developmental model, Thornberry and Krohn’s interactional theory, and Howell and Egley’s developmental model of gang membership.
Thornberry and Krohn. expanded theory to deal with early childhood and to early adulthood. *early childhood-recognized the importance of temperament and other trait-like behavior. -importance of degree of deficits in predicting continuity. *later adolescence/early adulthood recognized. -importance of transitions.
Moffitt's theory: same traits that got them in trouble in childhood continue to manifest themselves in adulthood. -continuing reciprocal interaction between personal traits and environmental reactions to them. Terri Moffitt's developmental taxonomy conclusion. -influence of neurological factors, learning deficits, ...
turning points. important life events/people can produce a transition in the life course and change/have impact the direction of a person's life course trajectory. Cumulative continuity. snowball effect due to ineffective parenting of Moffitt's theory. -temperament effect on parenting.
Another key developmental theory is Thornberry’s Interactional Model, which emphasizes different types of influences of certain factors at different times of our development, as well as the reciprocal or “feedback” effects of certain outcome variables on previous antecedent factors.
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.
What Thornberry adds beyond other theories is the idea of reciprocity or feedback loops, which no previous theory had mentioned, much less emphasized. Thornberry postulated that engaging in crime leads to hanging out with other delinquents and that hanging out with delinquents leads to committing crimes.
They emphasized the importance of certain events and life changes, which can alter an individual’s decisions to commit (or not commit) criminal activity.
The general theory assumes that people can take a degree of control over their own decisions and, within certain limitations, control themselves. The general theory of crime is accepted as one of the most valid theories of crime.
Moffitt’s Developmental Taxonomy. Proposed by Terrie Moffitt in 1993.
Sampson and Laub’s Developmental Model. One of the best-known and researched developmental theoretical models to date. Sampson and Laub have proposed a developmental framework that is largely based on a reanalysis of original data collected by Sheldon and Eleanor Glueck in the 1940s.
The life course approach, also known as the life course perspective or life course theory, refers to an approach developed in the 1960s for analyzing people's lives within structural, social, and cultural contexts. The origins of this approach can be traced back to pioneering studies of the 1920s such as Thomas' ...
theorized the life course as based on five key principles: life-span development, human agency, historical time and geographic place, timing of decisions, and linked lives.
Aging and developmental change, therefore, are continuous processes that are experienced throughout life. As such, the life course reflects the intersection of social and historical factors with personal biography and development within which the study of family life and social change can ensue (Elder 1985; Hareven 1996).
The primary factor promoting standardization of the life course was improvement in mortality rates brought about by the management of contagious and infectious diseases such as smallpox. A life course is defined as "a sequence of socially defined events and roles that the individual enacts over time".
The origins of this approach can be traced back to pioneering studies of the 1920s such as Thomas' and Znaniecki's "The Polish Peasant in Europe and America" and Mannheim's essay on the "Problem of generations".