Final Review Guide for Crime Through the Life Course

Demands of Adolescence (Agnew)

Agnew emphasizes how adolescence involves increased autonomy, identity formation, and social expectations—creating strain that may lead to delinquency.

ex. testing the rules, boundaries, and finding self

Criminogenic consequences of adult privileges for adolescents (Agnew)

Access to adult privileges (e.g., cars, jobs, sex) without full adult responsibilities can increase opportunities for crime.

ex. joyriding -> maturity gap

Mutual Disengagement/ Harmonic Convergence

Parents and adolescents mutually withdraw from conflict, leading to less supervision and more deviant opportunities

vs when they all get along and have a shared goal associated with compromise

ex. curfew times

Moral realism/ relativism

Children shift from seeing morality as fixed (realism) to understanding it as context-dependent (relativism), impacting decision-making

ex. growing up a questioning why some people do things (ice cream at Jerry's house)

Maturity gap

The disconnect between biological maturity and social/legal adulthood can lead youth to rebel or mimic adults prematurely.

ex. underage drinking

Identity Crisis

Eriksonian concept where adolescents explore and struggle with their sense of self, often linked to risk-taking or deviant behavior.

ex. variety of friend groups or cliques

Autonomy

Adolescents seek independence from parents, which can result in conflict and risky peer associations.

ex. girl wanting a boyfriend, or getting first car

parenting styles

Based on Baumrind's framework: authoritarian, permissive, and authoritative, neglectful

responsiveness/ demandingness

Core dimensions defining parenting styles; balance predicts outcomes.

authoritative

High demandingness & responsiveness; associated with positive youth outcomes.

ex. strong academic performance and attendance in kids

Authoritarian

High demandingness & low responsiveness; linked to rebellion.

ex. life course offender

permisssive

Low demandingness & high responsiveness; can lead to impulsive behaviors.

ex. binge drinking, and substance abuse

neglectful

Low on both; strongest link to delinquency

ex. criminals

social mimicry

Youth imitate older peers or adults, especially when they perceive them as successful or desirable.

ex. stealing as seen by peers

precocious/ late transitions

Early or delayed experiences with adult roles (e.g., sexual activity, work) can disrupt normal development or increase the risk of offending.

ex. having a baby, dropping out of school, and getting a full-time job at 16

social network anaylsis

a research method that involves the mapping of social ties and exchanges between them, Examines how peer groups are structured (cliques, liaisons, isolates) and how this affects behavior.

ex. looking at lunchroom cliques

delinquent peer effects

Association with deviant peers is one of the strongest predictors of youth crime.

ex. if your friends are in a gang, you want to be in a gang

prosocial peer influences

Friends who value school, family, or conformity can buffer against delinquency.

ex. If your friends are in sports and clubs you want to be in sports and clubs

socio-emotional development

changes in how we understand ourselves, interact with others, and experience and regulate emotions

ex. developing one's morality

lying and "omission"

Adolescents often hide behavior from parents to preserve autonomy or avoid punishment.

ex. movies with friend leaving out boyfriend

unproductive conflict

Conflict can lead to disconnection, based on communication quality and resolution.

mutual disengagement

ex. doors slammed no resolution or compromise

productive conflict

Conflict can lead to growth

, harmonic convergence

ex. talking it out and coming to compromise

characteristics and dangers of "risky" adolescent sexual activites

Early, unprotected, or emotionally disconnected sex can have emotional, social, and health consequences

Intimate partner violence and getting stuck in a cycle of violence

consequences of adolescent sexual initiation (precocious. versus on time initiation)

Early initiators are more likely to face negative outcomes (e.g., STDs, emotional distress), particularly when transitions aren't supported.

On time- based on love and security, emotional attachment

premature role exits (McCarthy and Casey)

Leaving school, home, or roles too early (e.g., teen parenthood) can set youth on risky, marginal paths.

health terrorism

Using extreme fear-based messages to discourage harmful behaviors; can backfire if perceived as manipulative.

ex. anti-smoking ads

social norms marketing & harm reduction

Corrects misperceptions (e.g., "everyone drinks") to reduce risky behaviors

ex. providing real information

binge drinking

drinking five or more alcoholic drinks at one sitting. Common among youth, tied to social bonding but also to accidents and crime.

substance use

the ingestion of psychoactive substances in moderate amounts that does not significantly interfere with social, educational, or occupational functioning

abuse trajectories and outcomes (early v later onset)

Early onset linked to more persistent and severe use; late onset often less damaging.

gang related and gang motivated crimes

Gang-related = by gang members; gang-motivated = done because of gang ties. Melde and Esbensen studied how gang entry increases violence.

gang involvement and changes in violence (Melde and Esbensen)

Gang membership escalates violent behavior but effects can diminish after disengagement.

Juvenile offenders: competence and culpability

Legal debates around whether adolescents can truly understand their actions or deserve adult punishments because they aren't fully developed

Juvenile diversion and rehabilitation

Programs aimed at redirecting youth away from formal justice system toward supportive, developmental interventions.

Adult socialization

Continuing development of roles and identity in adulthood (e.g., parenting, work).

Adult social capital

Relationships and resources (like stable employment or marriage) that buffer against crime.

stakes in conformity

Investment in conventional life (job, family) discourages risk-taking or offending.

off-time marriage/ parenthood: effects on females and males

Occurring earlier or later than peers can disrupt development; effects vary by gender.

Problems for males later down the road

Problems for females early in the road

Adult onset offending

Early childhood factors can be implicated in adult onset offending

•Nervous and socially withdrawn boys avoided childhood and adolescent onset

—but onset in adulthood

•Protected from childhood and adolescent peer influences central to early offending, but

have trouble with adult transitions

desistance

the tendency of individuals to age out of crime over the life course

the "marriage effect": Sampson and Laub v. Warr

Sampson and Laub: Marriage can foster desistance by strengthening social bonds.

ex. stakes in conformity

Warr: Marriage reduces time with delinquent peers, which may be the actual mechanism.

ex. less time with friends,

Cognitive theories of desistance

Emphasize internal change—shifts in identity and moral reasoning.

Hooks for change

Events or relationships that inspire desistance

ex. prison, children, treatment, shock, marriage, religion

replacement self

Developing a new, prosocial identity to replace the deviant one.

ex. reshaping the way you think about yourself

Personal agency

Belief in one's ability to change; critical to long-term desistance.

You have to personally want to change and make an effort to do so

ex. a ex convict decides they don't want to go back to prison and work hard on their characters to change

non-normative life events

Unexpected traumas (e.g., job loss, divorce) that can destabilize life and prompt offending.

ban the box laws

Legislation that removes criminal history questions from job applications to reduce employment discrimination.

heterotypic continuity

Different behaviors (e.g., lying as a child, fraud as an adult) expressing the same underlying trait over time.

cumulative disadvantage

Early problems (e.g., poverty, school failure) compound, increasing risk of adult crime.

covert adult offenses

Non-violent, often white-collar crimes that are harder to detect but socially harmful.

ex. Fraud, tax evasion, embezzlement, insider trading, corporate environmental violations.

fear of falling

fear that youth or young adults have about losing their already precarious social standing or stability (e.g., housing, status, relationships).

ex. You get fired and turn to fraud to meet your means or drug dealing

punctuated situational dependent offending

This refers to non-chronic or episodic criminal behavior that occurs during specific life phases or under unique situational pressures, rather than as a long-term pattern

ex. A typically conforming young adult commits a robbery during a financial crisis.

cycle of violence- 3 phases (IPV)

honeymoon- life is feeling good

tension building- walking on eggshells

explosion- violence takes place

over time, the honeymoon phases get shorter and shorter

Risks for IPV victiization

assortative mating (other offenders like anti social males) -> risk behaviors -> IPV

White collar crime

White-collar crime refers to non-violent, financially motivated crimes typically committed by individuals, businesses, or government officials in professional settings. These crimes usually involve deceit, fraud, or a breach of trust, rather than physical force or violence.

ex. insurance fraud

role of corporate culture and individual traits/ experiences

Inadequate pay, a horrible boss can affect white collar for

ex. Wells Fargo creating fake accounts to produce high numbers