Are community-based correctional/treatment programs more effective than incarceration? Explain your reasoning and provide supporting evidence for your argument. Finally, provide an example of an evidence-based practice in community-based programming or in a correctional institution that supports your side of the argument.
Chapter 5: Developmental Views of Delinquency: Life Course, Latent Trait, and Trajectory
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
1
Developmental theories focuses on the onset, continuity, and termination of a delinquent career
Three independent yet interrelated views:
Life-course theory:
Focuses on changes in criminality over the life course
Latent trait theory:
A stable feature, characteristic, property, or condition that makes some people delinquency-prone over the life course
Trajectory theory:
There are multiple independent paths to a delinquent career, and there are different types and classes of offenders
Development Theories
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
LO1. Compare and contrast the three branches of developmental theory.
2
According to life course view:
Children as young as toddlers begin relationships and behaviors that will determine their entire life course
Disruptions in life’s major transitions can be destructive and ultimately promote criminality
The Life Course View
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
LO2. Define the principles of the life course approach to developmental theory.
Photo: Donald Iain Smith/Getty Images
3
A positive life experience may help some kids desist from delinquency for a while, whereas a negative one may cause them to resume their activities
Delinquent careers are also said to be interactional because people are influenced by the behavior of those around them
Life course theories also recognize that as people mature, the factors that influence their behavior change
The Developmental Process
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
LO2. Define the principles of the life course approach to developmental theory.
4
One of the cornerstones of recent course theories has been renewed interest in the research efforts of Sheldon and Eleanor Glueck (at Harvard University in the 1930s)
Focused on early onset of delinquency as a harbinger of a delinquent career
The most important factor was family relationships
Others include physical and mental factors such as intelligence, mental disease, and physique
The Glueck Research
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
LO2. Define the principles of the life course approach to developmental theory.
5
Age of onset
Problem behavior syndrome
Continuity of crime and delinquency
Life course concepts
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
LO2. Define the principles of the life course approach to developmental theory.
Photo:
How early is too early for the onset of delinquency?
Here, Salecia Johnson, age 6, is shown at her home near Milledgeville, Georgia, on April
16, 2012. Police in Georgia handcuffed the kindergartner after the girl threw a tantrum, and
the police chief is making no apologies. Salecia was accused of tearing items off the walls and
throwing furniture at school. The police report says she knocked over a shelf that injured the
principal. Does being handcuffed and arrested lock a young girl into a delinquent way of life?
Might there not be another solution?
AP Images/Anonymous
6
Early onset of deviance strongly predicts more frequent, varied, and sustained criminality later in life
Research shows that poor parental discipline and monitoring is a key factor in the early onset of criminality
The earlier the onset, the more likely an adolescent will engage in serious delinquency and for a longer period of time
Age of Onset
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
LO2. Define the principles of the life course approach to developmental theory.
7
Life course view
Delinquency is but one of many social problems faced by at-risk youth, including family dysfunction, substance abuse, smoking, precocious sexuality/early pregnancy, education underachievement, suicide attempt, etc.
All varieties of delinquent behavior, including violence, theft, and drug offenses may be part of a generalized PBS
Problem Behavior Syndrome
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
LO2. Define the principles of the life course approach to developmental theory.
8
The best predictor of future criminality is past criminality
Research shows that kids who become persist offenders engage in more aggressive acts, and are continually involved in theft offenses and violent offenses
As they enter adulthood, they report less emotional support, low job satisfaction, distant peer relationships, and more psychiatric problems than those who desist from crime as youths
Continuity of Crime and Delinquency
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
LO2. Define the principles of the life course approach to developmental theory.
9
Social theorists have formulated a number of systematic theories that account for onset, continuance, and desistance from delinquency
One of the most prominent of these is age-graded theory
Age-graded theory was first articulated in an important 1993 work, “Crime in the Making,” by Sampson and Laub
Age-Graded theory
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
LO3. Critique Sampson and Laub’s age-graded life course theory.
Photo:
According to age-graded theory, people can knife off from crime if they receive the proper social
support. Here, Peter Barbuto, center, campaigns for Boston mayoral candidate Martin Walsh, whom
he said helped him when he was a drug addict. Walsh’s campaign for mayor moved many former
addicts—drinkers and drug users—to step out from the shadows and publicly support Walsh, a
state representative and recovering alcoholic who still attends AA meetings after 18 years of sobriety.
Walsh won the election in 2013.
KATHERINE TAYLOR/The New York Times
10
Sampson and Laub’s Age-Graded Theory
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
Figure 5.1: Source: Reprinted by permission of the publisher from Crime in the Making: Pathways and Turning Points Through Life
by Robert Sampson and John Laub, pp. 244–245, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, Copyright © 1993 by the
President and Fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved.
11
Sampson and Laub identified “turning points” in life
Two critical “turning points”
Career
Marriage
Adolescents who are at risk for delinquency can live conventional lives if they can find good jobs or achieve successful careers
People who cannot sustain secure marital relations are less likely to desist from delinquency
Turning Points in THE Life Course
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
LO3. Critique Sampson and Laub’s age-graded life course theory.
12
A cornerstone of age-graded theory is the influence of social capital on behavior
Social capital:
Positive relations with individuals and institutions that support conventional behavior and inhibit deviant behavior
Losing or wasting social capital increases the likelihood of getting involved in delinquency
Developing Social Capital
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
LO3. Critique Sampson and Laub’s age-graded life course theory.
13
Several indicators support the validity of age-graded theory
Research has shown that children who grow up in two parent homes are more likely to have happier marriages
Youths who accumulate social capital in childhood are most likely to maintain steady work as adults
Love, Marriage, and delinquency
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
LO3. Critique Sampson and Laub’s age-graded life course theory.
14
Age-graded theory places a lot of emphasis on the stability brought about by romantic relationships
Kids headed toward a life of crime can veer off that path if they meet the right mate
Love is a primary conduit of informal social control
Only meaningful relationships seem to help prevent future crime: love, not sex
Love, Marriage, and delinquency
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
LO3. Critique Sampson and Laub’s age-graded life course theory.
15
Suspected latent traits:
Defective intelligence
Impulsive personality
Genetic abnormalities
Physical-chemical functioning of the brain
Environmental factors such as drug, chemicals, and injuries
The propensity to commit delinquency is stable, but the opportunity fluctuates over time
There are simply fewer opportunities to commit crime
Latent trait/propensity theory integrates trait theories with rational choice theories
The Latent Trait/propensity View
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
LO4. Evaluate the general theory of crime.
Photo:
What makes a person delinquency prone? In some cases, it may be
love. Here, Meagan Grunwald, 18, reacts as her attorney, Dean
Zabriskie, speaks during her sentencing at the Fourth District Court
in Provo, Utah. Grunwald was convicted for a 50-mile crime spree
with her 27-year-old boyfriend that left one sheriff’s deputy dead and
another wounded. She was sentenced to 30 years to life with the
possibility of parole. While prosecutors conceded that Grunwald never
pulled the trigger, they said she was a willing accomplice, not a hostage,
acting out of love and a desire to keep her relationship going. She
freely made those choices that put her in prison.
AP Images/Chris Detrick
16
Michael & Travis Hirschi
Integrates control with biosocial, psychological, routine activities, and rational choice theories
The act and the offender:
Delinquent acts are illegal events or deeds that people engage in when they perceive them to be advantageous
Delinquency is rational and predicable
Delinquents are predisposed to commit crimes
General Theory of Crime
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
LO4. Evaluate the general theory of crime.
17
Low self-control – immediate gratification
People with limited self-control tend to be impulsive
What causes low self-control?
Inadequate childrearing practices
Parents who are unwilling or unable to monitor a child’s behavior, to recognize deviant behavior, and to punish bad behavior will usually produce children who lack self-control
What makes people delinquency prone?
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
LO4. Evaluate the general theory of crime.
18
One approach involves identifying indicators of impulsiveness and self-control
Impulsivity predicts the likelihood that a person will engage in criminal behavior
Another study has found that victims have lower self-control than non-victims
Criticism:
Circular reasoning
Personality disorder
Racial and gender differences
People change and so does their level of self-control
Testing the General Theory of Crime
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
LO4. Evaluate the general theory of crime.
19
There is more than one path to crime and more than one class of offender; there are different trajectories in a delinquent career
Violent delinquents
Chronic offending trajectories
Pathways to delinquency
The authority conflict pathway
The covert pathway
The overt pathway
Trajectory Theory
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
LO5. Judge the validity of trajectory theory.
Photo:
The covert pathway to delinquency begins with minor, underhanded
behavior (lying, shoplifting) that leads to property damage and
eventually escalates to more serious forms of criminality. Here,
Pennsylvania state police pull evidence from 16-year-old Sean
Patrick Sellers’s car after he was taken into custody. Sellers was
charged with criminal attempted homicide after the teen shot at
police during a traffic stop of the stolen car he was driving.
AP Images/Markell DeLoatch
20
According to Moffitt, there are two paths:
Adolescent-limited offenders:
Those who get into minor scrapes as youth but whose misbehavior ends when they enter adulthood
Life-course persistent offenders:
Delinquents who begin their offending career at a very early age and continue to offend well into adulthood
A third path
“Abstainers”:
Social introverts whose unpopularity shields them from group pressure to commit delinquent acts
Age of Onset
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
LO5. Judge the validity of trajectory theory.
21
LOEBER’S PATHWAYS TO CRIME
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
Figure 5.2: CHART – Source: “Serious and Violent Juvenile Offenders,” Juvenile Justice Bulletin, May 1998.
22
Proposes that a delinquent career must be understood as a path
People travel, and events and life circumstances influence the path
Life course theories
Emphasize the influence of changing interpersonal and structural factors
Latent trait theories
Assume that an individual’s behavior is linked less to personal change than to changes in the surrounding world
These perspectives differ in their view of human development
Note these positions are NOT mutually exclusive
Evaluating the Developmental View
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
LO1. Compare and contrast the three branches of developmental theory.
23
There have been a number of policy-based initiatives based on premises of developmental theory
Some programs aim to prevent delinquency in the long run by helping parents improve their parenting skills
A form of family support that has shown some success in preventing juvenile delinquency
Some provide a mixture of services
Developmental Theory and Delinquency Prevention
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
LO1. Compare and contrast the three branches of developmental theory.
24
Intervention
Across Ages
Unique and highly effective drug intervention program that pairs older adult mentors (age 55 and above) with young adolescents, mainly those entering middle school (ages 9 to 13)
Should such issues as early onset and problem behavior syndrome be considered when choosing participants for prevention programs like Across Ages?
What factors might be considerations when choosing a mentor?
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
LO1-LO5.
25
The foundation of development theory can be traced to the pioneering work of Sheldon and Eleanor Glueck
Life course theory suggests that delinquent behavior is a dynamic process, influenced by individual characteristics and social experiences
Latent trait theory suggests that a stable feature, characteristics, property or condition makes some delinquency prone for life
Trajectory theorists recognize that career delinquents may travel more than a single road
Summary
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
LO1-LO5.
26
image2.jpeg
image5.png
image6.png
image7.png
image8.jpeg
image9.png
image10.png
image11.png
image4.jpeg
,
Chapter 6: Gender and Delinquency
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
Do gender differences in development pave the way for future differences in misbehaving?
Baby girls show greater control over their emotions
Boys are more easily angered and depend more on input from their mothers
Three development differences:
Socialization
Cognitive
Personality
Gender Differences in Development
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
LO1. Contrast male and female developmental trajectories.
Photo – Jack Carey / Alamy
2
Psychologists believe that differences in the way females and males are socialized affect their development
Females
Benefit from strong parental attachment and stronger levels of self-control
Learn their self-worth through sustaining relationships
Are socialized to be less aggressive
Learn to respond to provocation by feeling anxious
Males
Learn to value independence
Are encouraged to retaliate
Socialization Differences
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
LO1. Contrast male and female developmental trajectories.
3
Differences between males and females start in childhood
Cognitive, Personality, and Emotional Differences
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
LO1. Contrast male and female developmental trajectories.
Concept Summary 6.1
4
Girls are often stereotyped as talkative, but research shows that in many situations boys spend more time talking than girls do
Girls are often stereotyped as being more emotional than boys, but research shows that in many situations, gender differences in emotionality are narrow
The gender gap in emotion increases with age: girls exhibit more positive emotions as they reach maturity, while boys lag behind; this may explain differences in teen delinquency rates by gender
Gender Differences and StereoTYpes
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
LO1. Contrast male and female developmental trajectories.
5
Possible causes of gender differences:
Biological origin
Brain organization
Hormonal differences
Socialization
Gender-schema theory
Sandra Bem
Our culture polarizes males and females by forcing them to obey mutually exclusive gender roles, or “scripts”
Not all social scientists agree that there are significant gender differences
What Causes Gender Differences?
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
LO1. Contrast male and female developmental trajectories.
Photo:
Game time for Molly Kaissar and friends at the Girls Leadership
Institute camp. The goal is to help girls develop esteem and
confidence and become survivors in a tough world. Program creator
Rachel Simmons believes that because girls fear rocking their
all-consuming relationships, they are notoriously inept at addressing
everyday conflicts. More aggressive girls fight dirty and mean,
bullying, taking command of the lunch table, and spreading
rumors about their targets. Their devastated,
demoralized victims, furious themselves, feel emotionally
paralyzed. Much of the subtle savagery, the clique infighting,
Flourishes below adult radar.
Shana Sureck/The New York Time/Redux
6
Research has found that the factors that influence male and female delinquency are quite different
“Two-cultures view”
Girls and boys differ in their social behavior because their sex-segregated peer groups demand behavior that may not be characteristic of them in other social situations
Gender and Delinquency
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
LO1. Contrast male and female developmental trajectories.
7
The juvenile and adult crime rates for both males and females have been in decade-long decline
While males still commit more delinquency and are more likely to be arrested than females, there are indications that the gender gap in crime and delinquency arrests is narrowing, especially for serious violent crimes
Why the narrowing of the gap?
Changing in police procedures
Girls are committing more crimes – not supported by self-reported data
Gender Patterns in Delinquency
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
LO1. Contrast male and female developmental trajectories.
8
high school seniors and Offenses
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
LO1. Contrast male and female developmental trajectories.
Table 6.1: Chart – Source: Monitoring the Future, 2014 (Ann Arbor, MI: Institute for Social Research, 2015).
9
There is a long tradition of tracing gender differences in delinquency to traits that are uniquely male or female
The argument that biological and psychological differences between males and females can explain differences in crime rates is not a new one
Trait Views
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
LO2. Examine the traits related to female delinquency.
10
Cesare Lombroso (The Female Offender, 1895)
Women who commit crimes could be distinguished from normal women by physical characteristics
The masculinity hypothesis suggested that delinquent girls had excessive male characteristics
Chivalry hypothesis
Gender differences in the delinquency rate can be explained by the fact that female criminality is overlooked or forgiven by male agents of the justice system
Early Biological Explanations
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
LO2. Examine the traits related to female delinquency.
11
Some psychologists view the physical differences be