10 3 14 Criminal Justice Life Course Criminology Life Course Approach Age distribution of crime is not invariant Age has an indirect effect on crime Age is correlated with important events or factors which are highly related to No matter what age a person s crime peaks at they all decrease with age crime Important Terms Onset age of first offending frequency amount of offending and desistance age at which offending stopped of crime Persisters there is no age of desistance chronic offenders commit for basically their entire life People and events change over the life course Transitions life events turning points change in the life course trajectories pathway of development long Context of behavior over time Qualitative and quantitative Compared to G H s Claims Is criminal propensity set by age 8 Gottfredson and Hirschi self control theory or are later life transitions and processes important If latter is true what transitions and processes matter to adult offending Does age have a direct influence on crime If not what is the influence of age on crime Warr s 1993 Age Peers and Delinquency Does age have a direct impact on crime Age Peers Delinquency Differential Association Theory Warr examined whether there were age differences in 1 Exposure to delinquent peers 2 Time spent with peers 3 Importance of delinquent peers 4 Person s commitment or loyalty to peers Found that age does not have an impact on delinquency once peer influence are controlled for Delinquency examples marijuana use cheating petty theft alcohol use Findings At age 11 95 of persons report no delinquent peers At age 16 percentage dropped 40 points By age of 18 only 25 of peers were not delinquent Laub and Sampson s 1993 Life Course Study of Criminal Offending Separate from early childhood experiences can a person become a criminal in adulthood Quality of social bonds influences social control especially informal controls which explains the onset of persistence of and desistance from criminal behavior Social capital resources gained through quality social relationships The Study Early Origins 1930s and 1940s Unraveling Juvenile Delinquency Sheldon and Eleanor Glueck 1950 Case control design 500 delinquent males 500 non delinquents from the same low income neighborhoods Matched on age ethnicity and IQ Extensive data on boys their families early work and educational occupational 3 waves ages 14 25 and 31 and relationship histories Adult Social Capital attachment to labor force and cohesive marriage Turning Points Positive meaningful work Negative heavy drinking job instability Findings criminality Social capital and turning points are important concepts in understanding adult Among the delinquents those persons high on social capital low criminal activity Among non delinquents those persons low on social capital high crime activity freer to commit deviant acts Key Concepts Trajectories Sequences of roles experiences Transitions in Roles Leaving home starting work becoming a parent Turning Points Experiences associated with lasting shifts in trajectories Life Course Approach Multiple traits including social psychological and economic ones People change over the life course dynamic Events and turning points are age graded such as family job peer influenced behavior military marriage school
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