what is the developmental life course perspective

The developmental life course perspective (DLC) focuses attention on the socio-historical context in which we live our lives as it influences opportunities and life events that produce cumulative advantage or disadvantage. These large contextual forces shape preference and behavior, and it is within this context that the individual exerts personal agency.

Full Answer

What is developmental life course theory?

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.

What is development and life course theory?

Life course theory merges the concepts of historical inheritance with cultural expectation and personal development, which in turn sociologists study to map the course of human behavior given different social interaction and stimulation.

What is the Life Course Perspective Theory?

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.

What do developmental psychologists study over the lifespan?

They conduct research designed to help people reach their full potential — for example, studying the difference between learning styles in babies and adults. Developmental psychologists study human growth and development over the lifespan, including physical, cognitive, social, intellectual, perceptual, personality and emotional growth.

What is the developmental life-course theory?

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.

What is meant by life course perspective?

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.

What are the major concepts of the life course development perspective?

Five basic concepts are defined and discussed: cohorts, transitions, trajectories, life events, and turning points.

What is an example of the life course perspective?

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.

What is the goal of developmental and life course theories of crime?

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.

What are the three themes of the life course perspective?

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.

Why is the life course perspective important in social work?

Understanding the impact of transitions within a person's life course is important for social work practice in order to help us understand other people's lives. Although people may experience the same life event, their response to the transition and the decisions they make will be different.

What is the life course and why is important in studies of the social determinants of health?

Life course approaches to health disparities leverage theories that explain how socially patterned physical, environmental, and socioeconomic exposures at different stages of human development shape health within and across generations and can therefore offer substantial insight into the etiology of health disparities.

What are the strengths of the life course perspective?

The life course perspective sees humans as capable of making choices and constructing their own life journeys within systems of opportunities and constraints. 6. The life course perspective emphasizes diversity in life journeys and the many sources of that diversity.

What are the four key elements of the developmental life course theory?

Several fundamental principles characterize the life course approach. 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.

What is meant by the life course perspective quizlet?

Life course perspective. An approach to human behavior that recognizes the influence `of age but also acknowledges the influences of historical time and culture. Which looks at how chronological age, relationships, common shape people's lives from birth to death. Cohort.

What are the five stages of the life course?

As you probably realize by now, most theories and discussions of socialization concern childhood. However, socialization continues throughout the several stages of the life course, most commonly categorized as childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and old age.

Introduction

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.

General Overviews

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.

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What are the factors that affect adolescent limited criminal activity?

For Moffitt ( 1993 ), adolescent-limited offenders' delinquent criminal activity is a result of two factors: social mimicry and the maturity gap.

Can you commit crime at one developmental stage?

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).

What are the effects of environmental factors on the body during infancy?

This led Barker and colleagues (Barker, 1998) to suggest that adverse environmental influences in uteroand during infancy permanently change the body's structure, physiology and metabolism, increasing susceptibility to disease in later life.

What is the term for the effect of a challenge to alter the structure or function of a system, often permanently

Developmental plasticity. Plasticity is defined as the effect of a challenge to alter the structure or function of a system, often permanently.

What is social location?

Social location is another aspect of location that shapes the life course. As Alwin avers, Riley and a host of other sociologists are accustomed to thinking about socioeconomic strata —the hierarchical stratification that occurs in all modern societies.

What is life course?

A life course perspective is about examining changes, whether they be biological, developmental (including social and psychological factors), historical, or geographic and attempting to identify which factors affect the arc of change, and what transformations change bring. Some of what goes on occurs because of intrinsic dynamics called ontogenetic forces that are inherent, built into our biology, and moving us along life’s path. Some change can be attributed to when, where, and how we live, who we are, and where we fit into the social structures in which we are ensconced. Many scholars assert the ways we grow up and grow old are socially constructed, normative, or prescriptive. Yet, because humans are sentient beings, we do not just take change as given, we impose meaning on it and bend it to our purposes—of course we take direction from it as well. In a manner of speaking, under optimal circumstances, we reinvent ourselves with each transition as transformed meanings take shape. Of course, optimal circumstances are neither equitably distributed nor sometimes even possible. In each of the five variations outlined in Alwin’s essay, it is clear that a life course perspective allows us to look at life, attend to differences in circumstances be they psychological, sociological, biological, economic, or demographic, and consider what roles they play in explaining why we have diverse experiences as we grow up and grow old.

What is changing worldviews?

Changing worldviews are linked with shifts in technology, modes of production, economic structures within a society, and the structure of knowledge giving form to the meaning of experience.

What is adult social conditions?

In each instance, adult social conditions refer to a panoply of events and experiences occurring during the adult years. Some of these may be macro-level influences such as public policies and immersion in social institutions, such as work, careers, families, and so on, but others are unique individual experiences.

How do social relationships make a difference in life?

Social relationships make a profound difference in the life course and those relationships serve as resources available during times of need. Any life course framework worth its salt must address the relevance of these social interactions.

What is the role of Brofenbrenner in the development of human development?

Brofenbrenner (1979) provides a key interpretative frame by casting life as a social construction captured in his notion of an “ecology of human development” to characterize the contextualized relationships that create what we think of as the life course.

What is the significance of the historical period in which a person lives?

The historical period in which a person lives has a profound effect on the life course, and attention to it helps demonstrate life’s pliability. Being alive 200 years ago heralded a far different life course than being alive today.