Chapter 6 youth and delinquency

Developmental theory

The view is that delinquency is a dynamic process influenced by social experiences and individual characteristics. Examines the onset, continuity, and termination of a delinquent careerThis theory is traced back to Sheldon Glueck and Eleanor Glueck. When they were at Harvard they conducted research on the life cycle of delinquent careers using longitudinal studies

The Gluecks' research focused on the early onset of delinquency as a harbinger of a delinquent career: "The deeper the roots of childhood maladjustment, the smaller the chance of adult adjustment."

The factor that related most to persistent offending was family relations. Types of developmental theory: •Life-course theory

•Propensity theory

•Trajectory theory

Marvin Wolfgang

used Philadelphia homicide data to conduct the first empirical investigation of victim precipitation. Focused on delinquent careers and chronic criminality

There are three independent and interrelated views of the developmental theory

Life course theory, challenge to life course theory, and trajectory theory

Life-course theory

Delinquent behavior is influenced by individual characteristics and social experiences over the life course.

Suggests that delinquent behavior is a dynamic process influenced by individual characteristics and social experiences. The factors that cause antisocial behaviors change dramatically over a person's life span. According to life-course theory, delinquency is constantly evolving, and the factors that produce antisocial behaviors at one point in the life cycle may not be relevant at another

While some people tend to offend early in their lives, the nature and frequency of their activities are often affected by external forces shaping their personal development

Negative life events can promote criminal careers and those already at risk because of socioeconomic problems of family dysfunction are most susceptible to these transitions

According to this view, delinquency cannot be attributed to a single cause, and it does not represent a single underlying tendency.

A social or personal factor that may have an important influence at one stage of life (such as delinquent peers) may have little influence later on.

•May be influenced by:

•Negative life events

•Major transitions or interruption of transitions

•Maturation

Challenge to life course theory

suggest that human development is controlled by a hidden master trait that remains stable and unchanging throughout a person's lifetime. As people travel through their life course, this latent trait or propensity is always there, directing their behavior

Latent trait

Personal attribute or characteristic that controls the inclination or propensity to commit crimes

Propensity

An innate inclination, preference, or tendency to act in a specific way. In other words, the propensity to commit delinquent acts is constant, but the opportunity to commit them constantly fluctuates.

Problem behavior syndrom

A cluster of antisocial behaviors that may include family dysfunction, substance abuse, smoking, precocious sexuality and early pregnancy, educational underachievement, suicide attempts, sensation seek- ing, and unemployment, as well as delinquency. According to this view, delinquency is one of these interrelated social problems that seem to cluster together.

People who suffer from one of these conditions typically exhibit symptoms of the rest.

Makes use of patterns to understand behavior (ex. Kids who gamble and take risks at an early age also take drugs and commit crimes)

Offense specialization/generalization

Life-course theory recognizes that some offenders are specialists, limiting their delinquent activities to a cluster of theft offenses, including burglary and larceny, or violent offenses, such as assault and rape

It is also possible that the offender's immediate circumstances dictate the choice of crime

Age of onset

Most life-course theories assume that the seeds of a delinquent career are planted early in life and that the early onset of deviance strongly predicts later and more serious delinquency

Among the suspected root causes are poor parental discipline and monitoring, inadequate emotional sup- port, distant peer relationships, and psychological issues and problems

Another suspected cause of early onset is biological. Some adolescents reach puberty ahead of schedule, thrusting them into roles and behavior that they are not mature enough to handle

The earlier the onset of crime the longer its duration

Persistence and desistance

the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior, children repeatedly in trouble during early adolescence will generally still be antisocial in their middle teens; those who display conduct problems in youth are the ones most likely to commit crimes as adults.

Theories of the delinquent life course

they are all integrated theories. Theories that incorporate social, personal, and developmental factors into complex explanations of human behavior.

Age-graded theory

created by Robert Sampson and John Laub, re-analyzed the data collected by the Gluecks and found that while individual traits and childhood experiences are important in understanding the onset of delinquent and criminal behavior, they alone cannot to explain the continuity of crime from delinquency to adult criminality, to answer the question they formulated the age-graded theory of informal social control where they suggest that the strength of a person's bonds to social institutions will predict and explain first delinquent and then criminal involvement over their entire life course. In short development social capital shapes behavior and turning points may act as control mechanisms (ex. employment of marriage). Human agency is key and there is a problem of cumulative disadvantage

Testing age-graded theory

•Delinquency found to be:

•Dynamic

•Affected by levels of informal social control

•Ability to reverse trajectory

•Stability from romantic relationships

•Evaluation of age-graded theory

•Unanswered questions remain despite research support of theory

Social capital

Positive relations with individuals and institutions, as in a successful marriage or a successful career, that support conventional behavior and inhibit deviant behavior- Laub and Sampson seize on this concept by showing how social capital is an essential ingredient in the process of desisting from a delinquent way of life

Turning points

Positive life experiences, such as gaining employment, getting married, or joining the military, which create informal social control mechanisms that limit delinquent behavior opportunities.

Human agency

the purposeful execution of choice and free will, a key factor in a delinquent career

Cumulative disadvantage

The tendency of prior social problems to produce future ones that accumulate and undermine success.- when you fail to accumulate social capital and also experience social problems.

Testing this theory: Delinquency appears to be (a) dynamic and (b) affected by levels of informal social control.

Evidence also confirms Sampson and Laub's suspicion that delinquent career trajectories can be reversed if life conditions improve and individuals gain social capital

Love, marriage, and delinquency

Age-graded theory emphasizes the stability that romantic relationships bring. Teens headed toward a life of crime can divert from that path if they meet the right mate, fall in love, and get married

The marriage benefit is intergenerational- children who grow up in two-parent families are more likely to later have happy marriages themselves than children who are the product of divorced or never-married parents.

Question about the age graded theory

sampson and Laub used the Glueck data collected many years ago to create their vision. Do the same social relations still exist, and do they have the same influence on delinquency? When the Gluecks collected their data, the effects of marriage and military service might have been much different.

Are kids who desist from delinquency able to find a suitable mate, get married, and find a good job? Or are people who find an appropriate mate and a good job then able to desist from law-violating behavior? Does desistance precede the accumulation of social capital, or does the accumulation of social capital produce desistance?

Need to test theory further

Propensity theory

The view that a stable unchanging feature, characteristic, property, or condition, such as defective intelligence or impulsive personality, makes some people crime prone. Suspected latent traits include defective intelligence, damaged or impulsive personality, genetic abnormalities, the physical-chemical functioning of the brain, and environmental influences on brain function, such as drugs, chemicals, and injuries.

State dependence

The propensity to commit crime profoundly and permanently disrupts normal socialization over the life course. The latent trait of propensity to commit crime disrupts normal socialization over the life course

Propensity and opportunity

Although the propensity to commit delinquency is stable, the opportunity to commit delinquency fluctuates over time

To understand this concept better, assume that IQ is a stable latent trait associated with crime as measured by IQ tests. Intelligence remains stable and unchang- ing over the life course, but delinquency rates decline with age. How can latent trait theory explain this phenomenon? Teenagers have more opportunities to commit delinquency than adults, so at every level of intelligence, adolescent delinquency rates will be higher

General theory of crime

A developmental theory that modifies social control theory by integrating concepts from biosocial, psychological, routine activities, and rational choice theories.

Michael Gottfredson and Travis Hirschi modified and redefined some of the principles articulated in Hirschi's original social control theory

According to Gottfredson and Hirschi, the propensity to commit antisocial acts is tied directly to a person's level of self-control. People with limited self-control tend to be impulsive; they are insensitive to other people's feelings, physical (rather than mental), risk takers, shortsighted, and nonverbal. The stability of self-control, a cornerstone of the theory, has been the subject of much debate. While Gottfredson and Hirschi view self-control as stable and unchang- ing, empirical evidence shows that it may vary over time and place.

Self control theory

The theory of delinquency that holds that antisocial behavior is caused by a lack of self-control stemming from an impulsive personality. Low control causes antisocial behavior

What causes low self-control/ impulsivity? Gottfredson and Hirschi trace the root cause of poor self-control to inadequate child rearing practices that begin soon after birth.

Children who are not attached to their parents, who are poorly supervised, and whose parents are delinquent or deviant themselves are the most likely to develop poor self-control.

What causes low self-control/ impulsivity

Gottfredson and Hirschi trace the root cause of poor self-control to inadequate child rearing practices that begin soon after birth.

Children who are not attached to their parents, who are poorly supervised, and whose parents are delinquent or deviant themselves are the most likely to develop poor self-control.

Variations in delinquency

due to the fact that delinquent propensity and delinquent acts are separate concepts. On the one hand, delinquent acts, such as robberies or burglaries, are illegal events or deeds that offenders engage in when they perceive them to be advantageous. Burglaries are typically committed by young males looking for cash, liquor, and entertainment; delinquency provides "easy, short-term gratification". On the other hand, delinquent offenders may be predisposed to commit crimes, but they are not robots who commit antisocial acts without restraint; their days are also filled with conventional behaviors, such as going to school, parties, concerts, and church. •Propensity to commit crime and actually committing crime are different.

•Delinquency is rational and predictable.

Support for the GTC

Among the many confirmed principles of the General Theory is the linkage of low self-control with poor parenting. Regardless of community structure, kids with ineffective parents are more likely to exhibit low self-control than those who experience parental efficacy

Unanswered questions of GTC

Some critics argue that the theory is tautological (involves circular reasoning): How do we know when people are impulsive? When they commit crimes! Are all delinquents impulsive? Of course, or else they would not have broken the law!

Lack of self-control is one of the many personality traits associated with crime

It ignores the environment

Does not explain racial and gender differences

Does not account for peer influence

Self-control may not be stable

Many delinquents are rational and calculating not impulsive, self-control may waver and change,

Trajectory theory

Combines propensity and life-course theory elements. The basic premise is that there is more than one path to crime and more than one class of offender; there are different trajectories in an offending career as an offender progresses from delinquent to criminal. Sampson and Laub acknowledged that different delinquent-to-criminal trajectories exist. Late bloomers: stay out of trouble until adulthood and abstainers avoid breaking the law

Basic behavior groupings

1. Authority conflict: engaging in stubborn, defiant, and disobedient behavior; covert:

2. Covert: minor delinquency such as vandalism and shoplifting, temporary car theft

3. Overt: minor aggression, fighting, and violence, measured through both endorsement and involvement;

4. Reckless: dangerous acts that the adolescent and others in danger such as taking drugs or reckless driving. There are some late bloomers and nonstarters, age of onset theory is not necessarily right

3 paths to a delinquent career

1. Authority conflict pathway: Pathway to delinquent deviance that begins at an early age with stubborn behavior and leads to defiance and then to authority avoidance.

2. Covert pathway: Pathway to a delinquent career that begins with minor underhanded behavior, leads to property damage, and eventually escalates to more seri- ous forms of theft and fraud.

3. Overt pathway: Pathway to a delinquent career that begins with minor aggression, leads to physical fighting, and eventually escalates to violent delinquency.

Adolescent-limited offenders

Kids who get into minor scrapes as youths but whose misbehavior ends when they enter adulthood.

Life course persists

Delinquents who begin their offending career at a very early age and continue to offend well into adulthood.

Evaluating developmental theories

Despite differing views, all theories agree that a delinquent career has a beginning, an end, and is influenced by life events and circumstances.

Factors affecting delinquency include structural (income, status), socialization (family, peers), biological (size, strength), psychological (intelligence, personality), and opportunity-related factors (free time, police presence, availability of stolen goods).

Basic tenants of each theory

Life-course theories: Emphasize that individuals change over time along with societal shifts.

Propensity theories: Suggest that behavior is more influenced by external changes rather than personal transformation.

Trajectory theories: Combine both views, proposing multiple factors and pathways influencing delinquency. Debate exists on whether delinquent behavior is dynamic (life-course theory), stable (propensity theory), or varies by subgroup (trajectory theory).

2 types of delinquents

A less serious group influenced by life events.

A chronic group resistant to positive social influences, supporting trajectory theory.

Developmental theory & delinquency prevention

Focuses on multisystemic treatment, targeting at-risk youth with social, educational, and family support.

Programs aim to build social-emotional competence, coping skills, and reduce aggressive behavior.

Early childhood programs

Target "root causes" of delinquency like poverty, impulsivity, poor parental supervision, and harsh discipline.

Multidimensional approaches include cognitive development, child skills training, and family support.

Home-based programs

Emphasize family support to instill positive values and nurture prosocial behaviors.

Home visitation programs are particularly effective.

Nurse-family partnership (NFP)

Began in Elmira, NY, targeting first-time, disadvantaged mothers.

Goals: improve pregnancy outcomes, parenting quality, and mothers' life development.

Provided home visits by nurses during pregnancy and first two years of the child's life.

Results:

Children had half as many arrests as the control group.

Fewer convictions, probation violations, and substance use.

Mothers had lower rates of child abuse, crime, and welfare reliance.

Cost-benefit: $2.90 return for every dollar spent.

Expanded to 500 counties in 43 states and replicated internationally.

Other prevention programs

Boys & Girls Clubs SMART Program: Includes school, after-school, and parent-involvement components to reduce risk factors.

Fast Track Program: Targets high-risk first graders to prevent antisocial behavior and related adolescent issues.