1. Chapter 9
Developmental Theories: Life Course and Latent Trait

2. Developmental Theories
Seek to identify, describe, and understand the development factors the explain the onset and continuation of a criminal career
Intertwining of personal factors, social factors, socialization factors, cognitive factors, and situational factors
Two distinct groups:
Life course theories
Latent trait theories

3. The Life Course View The Glueck Research
Popularized the research on the life cycle of delinquent careers
“The deeper the roots of childhood maladjustment, the smaller the change of adult adjustment”
Family relations are paramount in terms of quality of discipline and emotional ties with parents

4. The Life Course View The Glueck Research
Children most likely to be delinquent:
Low IQ’s
A background of mental disease, and
A powerful physique

5. The Life Course View Life Course Concepts Loeber & LeBlanc 
Devoted time to the evolution of the criminal career
Attention should be given to how a criminal career unfolds
People may show a propensity of offend early in their lives

6. The Life Course View Problem Behavior Syndrome
Criminal behavior is one of many antisocial behaviors that cluster together and typically involve family dysfunction, sexual and physical abuse, substance abuse, smoking, and precocious sexuality.

7. The Life Course View Two distinct viewpoints: Life course theories
Criminality is viewed as a dynamic process
Influenced by a multitude of:
Individual characteristics
Traits
Social Experiences

8. The Life Course View Two distinct viewpoints: Life course theories
Latent trait theories
Human development is controlled by a “master trait”
Master trait is present at birth or soon after

9. The Life Course View
Some people are incapable of maturing in a reasonable and timely fashion because of family, environmental and personal problems
The propensity to commit crime is neither stable nor constant
Life course theories are multidimensional
Suggesting criminality has multiple roots

10. Figure 9.1 Life Course and Latent Trait Theories
The Life Course View
Figure 9.1 Life Course and Latent Trait Theories

11. The Life Course View Disruption promotes criminality
Disruptions in life’s major transitions
Can be destructive
Can promote criminality
People influenced by different factors as they mature
Negative life events can become cumulative

12. The Life Course View Changing Life Influences First  Adolescence 
Family relations
Adolescence 
School and peer relations
Adulthood 
Vocational achievement
Marital relations

13. The Life Course View Problem Behavior Syndrome
All varieties of criminal behavior may be part of a generalized PBS
Unemployment
Educational underachievement
School misconduct
Residing in high crime and disorganized areas
Exposure to racism and poverty
Personal problems such as suicide attempts, sensation seeking, early parenthood, accident-proneness, medical problems, mental disease, anxiety, and eating disorders

14. The Life Course View Pathways to Crime
Loeber and associates identified 3 distinct pathways to a criminal career
Authority conflict:
Begins at an early age with stubborn behavior
Covert pathway:
Begins with minor underhanded behavior and leads to property damage
Overt pathway:
Escalates into aggressive acts and then to violence

15. Figure 9.2 Loeber’s Pathways to Crime
The Life Course View
Figure 9.2 Loeber’s Pathways to Crime

16. The Life Course View Age of Onset/Continuity of Crime
Life course theory suggests criminal careers are planted early in life
May begin with truancy, cruelty to animals, lying, and theft
Some offenders peak at an early age, whereas others persist into adulthood

17. The Life Course View Age of Onset/Continuity of Crime
Continuity and desistance:
Poor parental discipline and monitoring may be key to early criminality
Rejection by peers and academic failure sustains antisocial behavior

18. The Life Course View Gender Similarities and Differences
Like boys, early onset girls continue to experience difficulties such as
Drug/alcohol use
Poor school adjustment
Mental health problems, and
A variety of relationship dysfunctions

19. The Life Course View Gender Similarities and Differences
Early onset path for males results in:
Problems at work
Substance abuse
Early onset pathways for females are more likely to lead to:
Depression
A tendency to commit suicide

20. The Life Course View Adolescent Limiteds and Life Course Persisters
Moffet 
Most offenders are adolescent limited in that antisocial behavior peaks and then diminishes
A small group of offenders are persisters
Begin offending at an early age and continue into adulthood

21. The Life Course View Adolescent Limiteds and Life Course Persisters
Early starters experience:
Poor parenting
Deviant behaviors
Involvement with delinquent groups

22. The Life Course View Supporting Research
Recent research supports Moffit’s views
Early onset delinquents are influenced by individual traits 
Low verbal ability
Hyperactivity, and
Negative personality traits
Community-level factors such as poverty and instability seem to have little effect on their behavior

23. Theories of the Criminal Life Course
The Social Development Model
Integration of social control, social learning, and structural theories
Weis, Catalano, Hawkins
Community-level risk factors contribute to criminality
Social control, disorganization, and opportunities
Prosocial bonds may inhibit antisocial behaviors
Attachment to conventional activities and beliefs
SDM-based interventions can help reduce delinquency and drug abuse

24. Theories of the Criminal Life Course
Sampson and Laub: Age-Graded Theory
Sampson & Laub identified “turning points” (critical events) that may enable an offender to desist from crime
Career and marriage are turning points
Social Capital:
Refers to positive relations with individuals and institutions, which support conventional behavior
People who maintain a successful marriage and become parents are more likely to mature out of crime

25. Figure 9.3 Sampson and Laub’s Age-Graded Theory
Theories of the Criminal Life Course
Figure 9.3 Sampson and Laub’s Age-Graded Theory

26. Theories of the Criminal Life Course
Testing Age-Graded Theory
Indicators tend to support age-graded theory (i.e. employment)
Research suggests the greater the social capital, the more likely one will be insulated from crime

27. Theories of the Criminal Life Course
The Marriage Factor:
People who marry and become parents are most likely mature out of crime
Laub and Sampson are following up on the original research cohort of the Glueck’s
Recent research 
Piquero, MacDonald, and Parker
Future research 
Military, conforming to employment, etc.

28. Latent Trait View
Assumes some people have a personal attribute that controls their propensity to commit crime
The trait is either present at birth or established early in life
Propensity and opportunity to commit crime fluctuate over time

29. Latent Trait View Crime and Human Nature
Wilson & Herrnstein’s human nature theory 
Genetics, intelligence, and body build contribute to criminality
Biological and psychological traits influence crime choice and non-crime choices
Their work suggests the existence of an elusive trait that predisposes people to commit crime

30. Latent Trait Theories General Theory of Crime (GTC)
Gottfredson & Hirschi modified social control theory and integrated concepts of biosocial, psychological, routine activities, and rational choice theories
GTC considers the offender and the criminal act as separate concepts
People commit crime when it promises rewards and they are predisposed to commit crime

31. Latent Trait Theories General Theory of Crime (GTC)
Tendencies to commit crime is contingent on a person’s level of self-control
Root of poor self-control is traced to inadequate child-rearing practices
Gottfredson and Hirschi maintain the GTC explains all varieties of criminal behavior
Empirical evidence tends to support the GTC

32. Latent Trait Theories The Act and the Offender
The criminal act and the criminal offender are separate concepts
Criminal Acts:
Illegal events that offenders engage in when seen as advantageous
Criminal Offenders:
People predisposed to commit crimes
But not robots

33. Figure 9.4 Gottfredson and Hirschi’s General Theory of Crime
Latent Trait Theories
Figure 9.4 Gottfredson and Hirschi’s General Theory of Crime

34. Latent Trait Theories Impulsivity and Crime? Self-Control
People with limited self-control:
Impulsive
Insensitive
Physical rather than mental
Risk-takers
Shortsighted
Nonverbal

35. Latent Trait Theories Self-Control and Crime
All crime stems from a deficiency in self-control
Differences in gender, race, and ecology 
Can be explained by differences in self-control
Explains all crimes

36. Latent Trait Theories Support for GTC Numerous studies
U.S. and Abroad 
Relationship between impulsiveness and self-control and crime

37. Latent Trait Theories Analyzing the General Theory of Crime
Some critics charge GTC is:
Tautological:
Crime and impulsive behavior
Different Classes of Criminals:
Research indicates offenders occupy more than one class and more than one factor may contribute to their criminality
Ecological/Individual Differences:
Fails to address individual and ecological patterns in crime rates

38. Latent Trait Theories Analyzing the General Theory of Crime
Some critics charge GTC is:
Racial and Gender Differences:
Little evidence that males are more impulsive than females and overlooks racism and poverty issues
Moral Beliefs:
GTC ignores the moral concept of right and wrong
Peer Influence:
Negative influences of peers increases the likelihood of criminality rather than reducing it

39. Latent Trait Theories Analyzing the General Theory of Crime
Some critics charge GTC is:
People Change:
Propensity to commit crime does change and it is not static as suggested by GTC
Modest Relationship:
Self control is modestly related to antisocial behavior
Cross Cultural Differences:
GTC may be weak in cross-national studies

40. Latent Trait Theories Analyzing the General Theory of Crime
Some critics charge GTC is:
Misreads Human Nature:
GTC assumes people are selfish, self-serving, and hedonistic
Personality Disorder:
GTC ignores personality disorders

41. Evaluating Developmental Theories
Criminal Careers
Must be understood as a passage along which people travel
Factors affecting a criminal career may include 
Structural factors
Income and status
Socialization factors
Family and peer relations

42. Evaluating Developmental Theories
Criminal Careers
Factors affecting a criminal career may include 
Pyschological factors
Intelligence and personality
Opportunity factors
Free time, inadequate protection and a supply of easily stolen merchandise

43. Public Policy Implications of Developmental Theory
Multi-systematic treatment efforts
Programs targeting those at high risk to improve their developmental skills
SMART (skills, mastery, and resistance training)