Social Development Terms

  1. 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

  2. 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.

  3. 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

  4. 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

  5. Social Control Theories- a perspective that predicts that when social constraints on antisocial behavior are weakened or absent, delinquent behavior emerges

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

  7. Low Self-Esteem- a reduced sense of self-worth to include lowered self-assurance and lowered self-esteem is linked to delinquency

  8. Social Bond- the link created through individuals and the society of which they are a part

  9. 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

  10. Control Ratio- the amount of control to which a person is subject versus the amount of control that person exerts over others

  11. Tagging- a term that explains what happens to offenders following arrest, conviction, and sentencing

  12. Moral Enterprise- the efforts made by an interest group to have its sense of moral ethical propriety enacted into law

  13. 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

  14. Criminal Career- the longitudinal sequence of events committed by an individual offender

  15. 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

  16. Turning Points- crucial life experiences that can change behavior

  17. Social Capital- the degree of positive relationships with others and with social institutions that individuals build up over the course of their lives

  18. Life Course-Persistent Offenders- offenders who, as a result of neuropsychological deficits combined with poverty and family dysfunction, display patterns of misbehavior throughout life.