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

2. Developmental Theory
The view that criminality is a dynamic process, influenced by social experiences as well as individual characteristics
Developmental factors include biological, social, and psychological structures and processes
Attempts to provide a more global vision of a criminal career encompassing its onset, continuation, and termination
Difference between this theory and many others is that it attempts to explain what prompts one person to engage in persistent criminal activity while another finds a way to steer clear of crime

3. Questions of Developmental Theory
Why do people begin committing antisocial acts?
Why do some stop while others continue?
Why do some escalate the severity of their criminality while others deescalate and commit less serious crimes as they mature?
What causes people to begin to commit crime again once they have stopped?
Why do some criminals specialize?

4. Life Course Theories
Views that criminality is a dynamic process
Individual characteristics, traits, and social experiences influence this process
Theoretical views studying changes in criminal offending patterns over a person’s entire life
As people travel through their life course they are exposed to perceptions and experiences and thus their behavior may change as well
Considered integrated theories

5. Life Course Concepts
Problem Behavior Syndrome (PBS)
Pathways to crime
Age of onset/Continuity of Crime
Adolescent-limited and life-course persisters

6. Problem Behavior Syndrome (PBS)
A cluster of antisocial behaviors which may include:
Family dysfunction
Sexual and physical abuse
Substance abuse
Smoking
Precocious sexuality and early pregnancy
Educational underachievement
Suicide attempts
Sensation seeking
Unemployment
Crime

7. Authority conflict pathway
Pathways to Crime
Authority conflict pathway
Path to a criminal career that begins with early stubborn behavior that leads to defiance and ultimately authority avoidance
Covert pathway
Path to a criminal career that begins with minor underhanded behavior that leads to property damage and eventually escalates to more serious forms of criminality
Overt pathway
Path to a criminal career that escalates to aggressive acts, leading to physical fighting and eventually escalates to violent crime

8. Age of Onset/Continuity of Crime
The earlier the onset of criminality, the more frequent, varied, and sustained the criminal career
Poor parental discipline and monitoring are keys to the early onset of criminality
Continuity and desistance
Poor parental discipline and monitoring are a key to the early onset of criminality
Gender and desistance
For males early antisocial behavior is linked to later problems at work and involvement with drugs
For females early antisocial behavior is linked to relationship problems, depression, tendency to commit suicide

9. Adolescent-Limited and Life-Course Persisters
Adolescent limited offender
Considered “typical teenagers”
Engage in rebellious teenage behavior
They eventually reduce their offending around 18
Life course persistent offender
Begin their offending at a very early age
Continue to offend well into adulthood
A small group of offenders

10. Age-Graded Theory
Individual traits and childhood experiences are important to understand the onset of delinquent and criminal behavior
They alone cannot explain the continuity of crime into adulthood
Experiences in young adulthood and beyond can redirect criminal paths
Repeat negative experiences create cumulative disadvantage
Positive life experiences can help a person become reattached to society (social capital)
Delinquents can choose to “go straight”
Find more conventional paths more beneficial and rewarding

11. Factors That Increase the Likelihood of Criminality
Weak social bonds
Accumulation of deviant peers
Labeling by the justice system
Unemployment or underemployment
Long-term exposure to poverty

12. Latent Trait Theories
Some people have a personal attribute or characteristic that controls their inclination or propensity to commit crime
This disposition is often called the “latent trait”
It may be present at birth or established early in life
Though the propensity to commit crime is stable, the opportunity to commit crime fluctuates over time

13. Latent Traits
Defective intelligence
Damaged or impulsive personality
Genetic abnormalities
Physical-chemical functioning of the brain
Environmental influences on brain function

14. Types of Latent Trait Theories
Crime and human nature
Personal traits may outweigh the importance of social variables as predictors of criminal activity
Traits influence the crime-noncrime choice
General theory of crime (self-control theory)
The most prominent latent trait theory
Shifted focus from social control to self control
The view that the cause of delinquent behavior is an impulsive personality
Those who are impulsive may find that their bond to society is weak

15. Analysis of the General Crime Theory
Explains why some people who lack self-control can escape criminality and why some might not escape
Some criticisms that remain unanswered
Tautological
Different classes of criminals
Ecological differences
Racial and gender differences
Moral beliefs
Peer influence
People change
Effective parenting
Modest relationship
Cross-cultural differences
Misreads human nature
One of many causes
Some criminals are not impulsive

16. Policy Implications of Developmental Theories
Multi-systematic treatment efforts designed to provide at-risk youth with personal, social, educational, and family services
SMART
Fast Track