3. Foundations of Developmental
Theory
• Three Views of Criminal Career
Development
−Three independent yet interrelated
developmental views:
• Life Course Theory
• Propensity Theory
−Latent trait
• Trajectory Theory
4. Foundations of Developmental
Theory
• Population Heterogeneity versus
State Dependence
– Population heterogeneity
• The propensity to commit crime is stable
– State dependence
• The propensity to commit crime is
constantly changing
5. Class Discussion/Activity
Do people change or not change over
the course of their life?
Which theory do you think is more
correct: population heterogeneity or
state dependence?
6. Life-Course Fundamentals
• Relationships and behaviors
determine adult life course
– Children learn conformity to social rules
and to function effectively in society
– Later begin careers, leave parental
homes, find permanent relationships,
and marry and begin families
– Transitions take place in order
7. Foundations of Developmental
Theory
• Life-Course Theories
– Criminality is a dynamic process
• Age of onset
–Early onset
• Problem Behavior Syndrome (PBS)
• Continuity of crime
• Age-graded theory
8. Life-Course Fundamentals
• Problem Behavior Syndrome
– A cluster of antisocial behaviors that
may include family dysfunction,
substance abuse, smoking, precocious
sexuality and early pregnancy,
educational underachievement, suicide
attempts, sensation seeking, and
unemployment, as well as crime
– Crime is a social problem rather than a
result of other social problems
9. Foundations of Developmental
Theory
• Age-Graded Theory
– Social capital
– Cumulative disadvantage
– Turning points
– Testing age-graded theory
– Love, marriage, and criminality
12. Latent Trait Theories
• Theories that a stable feature,
characteristic, property, or condition,
present at birth or soon after, makes
some people crime-prone over the life
course
• State Dependence
– Latent trait disrupts normal socialization
13. Foundations of Developmental
Theory
• General Theory of Crime (GTC)
–Michael Gottfredson and Travis Hirschi
• What causes impulsivity/low self-control to
develop?
• Learning or biology?
• The act and the offender
• Testing the General Theory of Crime
• Criticisms and questions
• Environment and impulsivity
14. Analyzing the General Theory of
Crime
• Critiques
– Tautological
– Different Classes of Criminals
– Ecological Differences
– Racial and Gender Differences
– Moral Beliefs
– Peer Influence
– People change
– Modest relationship
– Cross-cultural differences
– Misreads human nature
– One of many causes
15. Foundations of Developmental
Theory
• Trajectory Theory
– Offending trajectories
– Pathways to crime
• Authority conflict pathway
• Covert pathway
• Overt pathway
– Adolescent-limited and life course
persistent offenders
– Late starters and abstainers
LO1: Trace the history of and influences on developmental theory.
LO1: Trace the history of and influences on developmental theory.
LO1: Trace the history of and influences on developmental theory.
LO1: Trace the history of and influences on developmental theory.
LO2: Know the principles of the life course approach to developmental theory.
LO3: Explain the term “problem behavior syndrome.”
LO4: Articulate the principles of Sampson and Laub’s age-graded life course theory.
LO4: Articulate the principles of Sampson and Laub’s age-graded life course theory.
Figure 9.1 Sampson and Laub’s Age-Graded Theory
Source: Robert Sampson and John Laub, Crime in the Making: Pathways and Turning Points through Life (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, 1993), pp. 244–245.
LO5: Be able to define the concept of the latent trait and assumptions of the general theory of crime (GTC).
LO5: Be able to define the concept of the latent trait and assumptions of the general theory of crime (GTC).
LO5: Be able to define the concept of the latent trait and assumptions of the general theory of crime (GTC).
LO5: Be able to define the concept of the latent trait and assumptions of the general theory of crime (GTC).
LO6: Know the principles of the trajectory theory.
LO6: Know the principles of the trajectory theory.
FIGURE 9.2 Loeber’s Pathways to Crime
Source: “Serious and Violent Juvenile Offenders,” Juvenile Justice Bulletin, May 1998.
LO1: Trace the history and influences on developmental theory.
