Life Course Theories
Life Course Theories
These theories are multidimensional; suggesting that criminality has multiple roots including maladjusted personality, educational failure, and dysfunctional family relations. Criminality, according to this view, is not attributed to one single cause but rather to many that occur over the life course. The main premise of life course theory concludes that multiple social, personal, and economic factors can influence criminality and that all of these change over time as does criminal involvement and opportunity. One of the most significant studies that have ever been done is called "The Gluecks" study named after Sheldon and Eleanor Glueck. The study was longitudinal and followed the careers of known delinquent and non-delinquent individuals to see what set the groups apart. This study was an early precursor of life course theory. The Gluecks identified several factors that were related to persistent offending. The most important one was family relations and as part of family relations, they found that the quality of discipline and the emotional ties with parents were extremely important. The Gluecks also went beyond social factors and looked at biological traits and psychology. They looked at things like IQ, body type, and personality. They found that the physical and mental factors were of relevance. Children with low IQ, a mental disease, and a powerful (Mezomorph) physiology physique were the ones most likely to become persistent offenders. The Gluecks study went largely undiscovered or unexploited when criminology went towards a more social-psychological approach. Their research was rediscovered about ten years ago by Sampson and Laub and reanalyzed.
The life course is viewed as a series of progressive milestones including finishing school, entering the job market and the workforce, getting married and settling down, and having children. The various life stages can occur too early, too late, or on time. crime is therefore viewed as an outgrowth of these progressions and is therefore developmental.
The following information reviews some of the life course developmental concepts.
1. Problem Behavior Syndrome - rather than being portrayed as the outcome of social problems experienced by youth, crime is viewed by developmental theorists as just another social problem faced by youth, similar to substance abuse, gambling, promiscuity, smoking, sexual abuse, gang involvement, poverty, and the like. People who suffer from one of these are more likely to suffer from a variety of others as well. The idea is that most forms of antisocial behavior have similar developmental patters and trajectories. Individuals experiencing problem behavior syndrome are also more likely to experience a variety of personality problems also including impulsiveness, rebelliousness, and conflict.
2. Age and Crime Onset - Most life course theorists assume that the likelihood of engaging in a criminal careers is established early and early deviance is the best predictor of later deviance. In other words, early aggression begets later aggression.
So, why do some people/kids start committing crime at an early age? If we can identify the answer to this question we might stand our greatest hope of preventing crime. The conventional wisdom and a lot of research suggests that poor parental discipline and supervision are keys to early onset criminality. Thinking back on the social process theory discussion, kids who are improperly socialized by unskilled unqualified parents are the ones most likely to rebel and resist and establish relationships with delinquent peers.
Male and female differences in life course criminality - Males who engage in early criminality tend to follow a life course trajectory that has them encountering problems later in life at work and through the use of drugs and alcohol. For females, early criminality tends to lead to later problems in personal relationships, depression, suicide and health risks. Further, males tend to show stronger links to aggression through the life course than females.
Theories:
Sampson and Laub: Age-Graded Theory
The theory is predicated on the idea referred to as age-graded informal controls. The primary function is bonding that occurs in the family, school, among peers, and later in life through marriage and employment. The bonds people establish through these age-graded activities is said to inhibit criminal behavior. The book provides a thorough explanation of the theory.
Terrie Moffitt contributed to developmental theory through her identification of what she refers to as adolescent limited offenders -- those adolescents whose antisocial behavior peaks during adolescence and then declines to the point of desistance. These individuals may be referred to as typical teenagers with characteristic rebellious behavior that they age out of. The life course persisters on the other hand are those individuals who engage in crime and delinquency at a young age and their behavior sets the stage for a career of offending. These individuals are more likely to manifest additional abnormal traits like low verbal skills, impaired reasoning, and poor memory function. Research suggests that these patterns are persistent and accurate.