Social Development Terms

Social Process Theories

theories that suggest that criminal behavior is learned in interaction with others and that socialization and learning processes occur as the result of group membership and relationships

Social Development Theories

an integrated view of human development that examines multiple levels of maturation simultaneously including the psychological, biological, familial, interpersonal, cultural, societal, and ecological levels

Learning Theory

a perspective that places primary emphasis upon the role of communication and socialization in the acquisition of learned patterns of criminal behavior and the values that support that behavior

Differential Association

an explanation for crime and deviance that holds that people pursue criminal or deviant behavior to the extent that they identify themselves with real or imaginary people from whose perspective their criminal or deviant behavior seems acceptable

Social Control Theories

a perspective that predicts that when social constraints on antisocial behavior are weakened or absent, delinquent behavior emerges

Containment

the stabilizing force that, if effective, blocks pushes and pulls from leading an individual toward crime

Low Self-Esteem

a reduced sense of self-worth including lowered self-assurance and lowered self-esteem is linked to delinquency

Social Bond

the link created through individuals and the society of which they are a part

General Theory of Crime

a theory that attempts to explain all (or at least most) forms of criminal conduct through a single, overarching approach and holds that low self-control accounts for all crime at all times

Control Ratio

the amount of control to which a person is subject versus the amount of control that person exerts over others

Tagging

a term that explains what happens to offenders following arrest, conviction, and sentencing

Moral Enterprise

the efforts made by an interest group to have its sense of moral ethical propriety enacted into law

Social Development Perspective

an integrated view of human development that examines multiple levels of maturity simultaneously, including the psychological, biological, familial, interpersonal, cultural, societal, and ecological levels

Criminal Career

the longitudinal sequence of events committed by an individual offender

Human Agency

the idea that individuals construct their own life course through the choices they make and the actions they take within the opportunities and constraints of history and social circumstances

Turning Points

crucial life experiences that can change behavior

Social Capital

the degree of positive relationships with others and with social institutions that individuals build up over the course of their lives

Life Course-Persistent Offenders

offenders who, as a result of neuropsychological deficits combined with poverty and family dysfunction, display patterns of misbehavior throughout life