1. Chapter 5: Developmental Views of Delinquency

2. Learning Objectives After reading this chapter, students should:
1. Be able to trace the history of and influences on developmental theory
2. Know the principles of the life course approach to developmental theory
3. Be able to articulate the principles of Sampson and Laub’s age-graded life course theory
4. Be able to define the concept of the latent trait and assumptions of the general theory of crime
5. Know the principles of Trajectory Theory

3. Development Theories
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
LO1.

4. According to life course view:
The Life Course View
According to life course view:
As young as toddlers people begin relationships and behaviors that will determine their entire life course
Disruptions in life’s major transitions can be destructive and ultimately promote criminality
LO2.

5. The Life Course View
Contend that the key risk factors associated with delinquency change as people grow older.
View delinquency as a pattern of behavior rather than as an isolated event.
Aim is to identify those factors that drive a person’s entire criminal career.
LO2.

6. The Life Course View
Have become increasingly popular in the past decade
Argue delinquency has to develop and is not simply the manifestation of an underlying condition
Explain changes in the progression of delinquent behavior over time or the delinquent career through examination of risk factors and protective factors
LO2.

7. The Developmental Process
Points to life experiences, rather than pathologies of individual condition (brain damage, low self-control, bad temper or psychopathy)
Can be positive (sports) or negative (joining a gang)
Small problems (family, school, work) can become BIG problems (drugs/alcohol, gambling, delinquency)
Delinquency can be determined by what has occurred over many years in an individuals life
These life situations classified in two broad categories:
Risk Factors – situations, settings, events or characteristics that increase the likelihood that one will become delinquent.
Protective Factors - situations, settings, events or characteristics that decrease the likelihood that one will become delinquent.
LO2.

8. Question
1. The life course perspective contends that disruptions in life's major transitions can be destructive and ultimately can promote criminality.
True
False

9. The Glueck Research
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)
The Gluecks research 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, physique
LO2.

10. Life course concepts A number of key concepts: Age of Onset
Problem Behavior Syndrome
Continuity of Crime and Delinquency

11. The Age Crime Curve
Is a line showing crime rates, which for most individuals increases during pre-adolescence, peaks in middle adolescence and steadily declines thereafter
Ex: Will be the same for inner-city African American males as middle class white females. They may commit proportionally more crime, but the age curve is the same.

12. The Age Crime Curve

13. Age of Onset
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
LO2.

14. Question
2. Contemporary developmental research was inspired by the research efforts of Harvard's ______________________ in the 1930s.
Shaw and McKay
Glueck and Glueck
Donald Sutherland
Bartols and James

15. Question
3. The Gluecks’ research focused on _______________________ as a harbinger of a delinquent career.
early onset of delinquency
parental alcohol and drug use
poor academic achievement
living in a poor community

16. Problem Behavior Syndrome
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…
All varieties of delinquent behavior, including violence, theft, and drug offenses may be part of a generalized PBS
LO2.

17. Continuity of Crime and Delinquency
The best predictor of future criminality is past criminality
Research shows that kids who become persistent 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
LO2.

18. Age Graded theory
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
LO3.

19. FIGURE 5.1 Sampson and Laub’s Age-Graded Theory

20. Turning Points in Life Course
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
LO3.

21. VA Tech Massacre – Seung-Hui Cho’s Story Current Example
Seung-Hui Cho was an undergraduate student at Virginia Tech who killed 32 people and wounded 25 others on April 16, 2007 in a shooting rampage. Cho later committed suicide. Born in South Korea, Cho arrived in the United States in 1992 at the age of 8, with his family. The family first lived in Maryland then moved to the Washington metropolitan area. He became a US permanent resident. In middle school, he was diagnosed with a severe anxiety disorder as well as major depressive disorder. After this diagnosis he began receiving treatment and continued to receive therapy and special education support until his junior year of high school. During Cho's last two years at Virginia Tech, teachers and classmates grow concerned over several instances of his abnormal behavior and his writings, which often included graphic violence.
From Cho’s story above, can you identify some of the “turning points” in his life?
How could these “turning points” have changed his life, positively or negatively?
Was there anything that could have been done to change the outcome of his life?
LO3.

22. Developing Social Capital
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
LO3.

23. Question
4. Problem behavior syndrome advocates believe that delinquency is but one of several social problems experienced by at risk youths.
True
False

24. Question
5. According to development theory, the best predictor of future criminality is:
body type and personality
parenting style
grades in high school
past criminality

25. Question
6. Which of the following is identified as the two critical turning points according to Sampson and Laub?
first romantic encounter and first job
graduating high school and one's first job
graduating high school and getting fired
marriage and career

26. Question
7. A cornerstone of age-graded theory is the influence of _______________ on behavior.
personality traits
pseudo maturity
social capital
chemical imbalances

27. Testing Age-Graded Theory
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
LO3.

28. Love and Delinquency
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
LO3.

29. Love and Delinquency – Current Example
According to a study published in the American Sociological Review (2009), teenagers in love are less likely to commit crime. Young girls and boys who have romantic relationships or are in love usually don’t get mixed up in crime and pernicious habits. At the same time, teens that have casual sex without being in love are more likely to get into trouble. According to the study, teenagers who have romantic sexual relationships and teenagers who abstain from sex are very unlikely to be involved in substance abused or other criminal behaviors. However, teens who have casual sex without romantic feelings have a much greater chance of becoming criminals.
Based on the discussion in your text, can you explain the correlation between “love” and “delinquency”?
Why is being “in love” a “social capital,” and how does it correlate in explaining delinquent behavior?
LO3.

30. The Latent Trait View Suspected latent traits include:
Defective intelligence
Impulsive personality
Genetic abnormalities
Physical-chemical functioning of the brain
Environmental factors such as drug, chemicals, and injuries
The propensity or inclination to commit delinquency is stable, but the opportunity fluctuates over time
People age out of delinquency because, as they mature, there are simply fewer opportunities to commit such acts
Latent trait/propensity theory integrates trait theories with rational choice theories
LO4.

31. Murder Rate in the Neighborhood and IQ – Current Example
After analyzing more than 6,000 murders in the Chicago area and two surveys of children and families in Chicago neighborhoods, Professor Sharkey at New York University concluded that a murder in the neighborhood can significantly knock down a child's score on an IQ test, even if the child did not directly witness the killing or know the victim (2010). According to Sharkey, the results can also explain about half the achievement gap between blacks and whites on such tests.
Based on the discussion in your text, can you explain the correlation found in Professor Sharkey’s study?
What major impacts does IQ have on our society as a whole?
LO4.

32. General Theory of Crime
Michael & Travis Hirschi
Integrated control theories 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
LO4.

33. General Theory of Crime
What makes people delinquency prone?
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
LO4.

34. FIGURE 5.2 The General Theory of Crime

35. Testing the General Theory of Crime
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:
Personality disorder
Racial and gender differences
People change and so does their level of self-control
LO4.

36. Question
8. The __________________ is a developmental theory that modifies social control theory by integrating concepts from biosocial, psychological, routine activities, and rational choice theories.
comprehensive theory of crime
general theory of crime
general developmental theory
complete theory of crime

37. Question
9. Which of the following behaviors would a person with low self-control not be likely to exhibit?
drink alcohol
skip school
watch television all day
volunteer in a nursing home

38. Trajectory Theory
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
LO5.

39. Adolescent Limited and Life Course Persistent Offenders
According to Moffitt, there are two paths:
Adolescent-limited offenders:
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
“Abstainers”:
Social introverts whose unpopularity shields them from group pressure to commit delinquent acts
LO5.

40. Evaluating the Developmental View
The developmental view is 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
The perspectives differ in their view of human development
Note these positions are NOT mutually exclusive
LO1.

41. Developmental Theory and Delinquency Prevention
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
This is another form of family support that has shown some success in preventing juvenile delinquency
Some provide a mixture of services
LO1.

42. Summary
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
LO1-LO5.