DEVELOPMENTAL THEORIES:

Life Course, Latent Traits, and Trajectory

During the twentieth century, some criminologists began to integrate

sociological, psychological, and economic elements into more complex

developmental views of crime causation. Hans Eysenck published Crime and

Personality in 1964 and proclaimed that antisocial behavior was linked to

psychological conditions that were a product of heredity. His controversial

theory integrated social, biological, and psychological factors, a vision that

upset the sociologists who controlled the field at that time.

Sheldon (1896 – 1980) and Eleanor Glueck (1898 – 1972) who are

today considered founders of the developmental branch of criminological

theory. Glueck’s research focused on early onset of delinquency as a

harbinger of criminal career. He stated "The deeper the roots of childhood

maladjustments, the smaller the chance of adult adjustments. They also noted

the stability of offending careers: Children who are antisocial early in life are

the most likely to continue their offending careers into adulthood.

The Gluecks identified a number of personal and social factors related

to persistent offending, the most important of which was Family Relations.

The factor is considered in terms of quality of discipline and emotional ties

with parents. The adolescent raised in a large, single – parent family of limited

economic means and educational achievement was the most vulnerable to

delinquency. Biological and Psychological traits as body type, intelligence,

and personality, and found that physical and mental factors also played a role

in the determining behavior. Children with low intelligence who had a

background of mental disease, and who had a powerful physique were the

most likely to become persistent offenders.

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Integrating biological, social and psychological elements, the Gluecks’

research suggested that the initiation and continuity of criminal career was a

developmental process influenced by both internal and external situations,

conditions, and circumstances.

In 1990s, the Glueck legacy was rediscovered in a series of papers by

criminologists Robert Sampson and John Laub, they used modern statistical

techniques to reanalyze the Gluecks empirical measurements. There findings

fueled the popularity of The Life Course Approach.

The critical Philadelphia cohorts research by Marvin Wolfgang prompt

interest in explaining criminal career development. He found that while many

offenders commit a single criminal act and desist from crime, a small group of

chronic offenders engage in frequent and repeated criminal activity and

continue to do so across their life span.

Rolf Loever and Marc LeBlanc was another important event that

generates interest in developmental theory. Loeber and LeBlanc proposed

that criminologist should devote time and effort to understanding some basic

questions about the evolution of criminal careers.

LIFE COURSE, LATENT TRAITS, and TRAJECTORY

Life Course Theory – sees criminality as a dynamic process,

influenced by a multitude of individual characteristics, traits, and social

experiences. As people travel through the life course, they are constantly

bombarded by changing perceptions and experiences, and as a result their

behavior will change directions, sometimes for the better and sometimes for

the worse.

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Latent Trait Theory – human development is controlled by a stable

propensity or “master trait” present at birth or soon after. As people travel

through their life course, this trait is always there, directing their behavior and

shaping the course of their life. Because this master trait is enduring, the ebb

and flow of criminal behavior is directed by the impact of external forces such

as interpersonal interactions and criminal opportunity; though people don’t

change, their opportunities, and experiences do.

Trajectory Theory – there are multitude trajectories in a criminal

career. There are multiple subgroups within a population that follow

distinctively different developmental trajectories that lead them toward a

criminal career. Some people may begin early in antisocial activities and

demonstrate a propensity for crime, while others begin later and are

influenced by life circumstances. This view suggests that both the life course

and latent trait visions may have validity because there are different types and

classes of offenders.

Latent Trait Theories

As people develop, a
master trait influences
Life Course their behavior, guiding and
controlling behavior Trajectory Theory
Theories
choices. There is more than a single
Factors shape human
behavior change over path to crime; there are
the life course, different classes and types
influenced by human of criminals.
interactions. Common Elements
Criminal careers are a passage.
Involvement in crime is not a
constant but may increase (or
decrease) in frequency,
severity, and variety depending
on external factors ranging
from opportunity to social
control

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LIFE COURSE FUNDAMENTALS

According to the life course view, even as toddlers, people begin

relationships and behaviors that will determine their adult life course. A

positive life experience may help some criminals desist from crime, whereas

negative one may cause them to resume their activities. Criminal careers are

said to be developmental because people are constantly being influenced by

the behavior of those around them, and they, in turn, influence others’

behavior. A youth’s antisocial behavior may turn his more conventional friends

against him; their rejection solidifies him and escalates his antisocial behavior.

Disruption Promotes Criminality - Disruptions in life’s major

transitions can be destructive and ultimately can promote criminality. Those

who are already at risk because of socioeconomic problems or family

dysfunction are the most susceptible to these awkward transitions. Criminality

cannot be attributed to a single cause, nor does it represent a single

underlying tendency. People are influenced by different factors as they

mature. Consequently, a factor that may have an important influence at one

stage of life may have little influence later on. Negative life events can

become cumulative as people acquire more personal deficits, the chances of

acquiring additional ones increases. The cumulative impact of these

disruptions sustains criminality from childhood into adulthood.

Changing Life Influence – Life course theories also recognize that as

people mature. The factors that influence their behavior change, as people

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make important life transitions – from child to adolescent, from adolescent to

adult, from unwed to married – the nature of social interactions changes.

LIFE COURSE CONCEPTS

A view of crime has emerged that incorporates personal change and

growth. The factors that produce crime and delinquency at one point in the life

cycle may not be relevant at another; as people mature the social, physical,

and environmental influences on their behavior are transformed. People may

show a propensity to offend early in their lives, but the nature and frequency

of their activities are often affected by force beyond their control, which

elevate and sustain their criminal activity.

Problem Behaviour Syndrome (PBS) – In developmental view,

criminality may best be understood as one of many social problems faced by

at-risk youth. Crime is one among a group of interrelated antisocial behaviors

that cluster together and typically involve family dysfunction, sexual and

physical abuse, substance abuse, smoking, precocious sexuality and early

pregnancy, educational underachievement, suicide attempts, sensation

seeking, and unemployment.

Examples which supports the existence of PBS:

 Adolescent with a history of gang involvement are more likely to

have been expelled in school, be binge drinkers, positive for drug abuse, been

in fights for six months, non-monogamous partners, positive for STD’s.

 Kids who gamble and take risks at an early age also take drugs and

commit crimes.

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 People who exhibit one of these conditions typically exhibit many

of the others.

Those who suffer from PBS are prone to more difficulties than the

general population. They find themselves with a range of personal dilemmas.

PBS has been linked to individual level personality problems

(impulsiveness, rebelliousness, and low ego), family problems (Interfamily

conflict and parental mental disorder), substance abuse, and educational

failure. The more crime a person commits, the more likely he or she is to

suffer premature death.

PBS portrays crime as a type of social problem rather than the product

of other social problems. People involved in crime may fall prey to other social

problems, ranging from poverty to premature death.

Offense Specialization / Generalization – Some offender are

specialists, limiting their criminal activities to a cluster of crime such as theft

offenses, including burglary and larceny, or violent offenses such as assault

and rape. Others are generalists who engage in a variety of criminal activities

such as drug abuse, burglary, and/or rape, depending on the opportunity to

commit crime and the likelihood of success.

Age of Onset / Continuity of Crime – Most life course theories

assume that the seeds of a criminal career are planted early in life and that

early onset of deviance strongly predicts later and more serious criminality.

Children who are aggressive and antisocial during their public school years,

they are much more likely to be troublesome and exhibit aggressive behaviour

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in adulthood. Early onset criminals seem to be more involved in aggressive

acts ranging from cruelty to animals to peer-directed-violence. Late starters

are more likely to be involved in nonviolent crimes such as thief. Starting early

in delinquency behaviour creates a downward spiral in a young person’s life.

Tension may be begin develop within parents and other family members,

emotional bonds to conventional peers become weakened and fray. As they

emerged into adulthood, persisters-report less emotional support, lower job

satisfaction, distant peer relationships, and more psychiatric problems than

those who desist.

Continuity and Desistance – Kids begin to offending at an early age

due to poor parental discipline and monitoring, inadequate emotional support,

distant peer relationships, and psychological issues and problems. Children

who are improperly socialized by unskilled parents are the most likely to rebel

by wandering in the streets with deviant peers. In later adolescence,

commitment to deviant peer group creates a training ground for crime.

Gender and Desistance – Males and Females who have early

experiences with antisocial behaviour are the ones most likely to persist

throughout their life course. Males, their path runs from early onset in

childhood to later problems at work and involvement with substance abuse

while for Females, early antisocial behaviour leads to relationship problems,

depression, and tendency to commit suicide, and poor health in adulthood.

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THEORIES OF THE CRIMINAL LIFE COURSE:

A number of systematic theories have been found formulated that

account for onset, continuance, desistance from crime. They are Integrated

Theories because they incorporate social, personal, and developmental

factors into complex explanations of human behaviour.

Sampson and Laub: Age-Graded Theory:

 Individual traits and childhood experiences are important to

understand the onset of delinquent and criminal behaviour. But these alone

cannot explain the continuity of crime into adulthood.

 Experiences in young adulthood and beyond can redirect

criminal transitions.

 A repeated negative experience creates a condition called a

cumulative disadvantage.

 Positive life experiences and relationships can help a person

become reattached to society and allow to knife off from criminal career.

 A positive life experiences creates informal social control

mechanism that limits criminal behaviour opportunities. These are called

turning points of crime. Two (2) critical turning points of crime are Marriage

and Career.

 Another vital feature that helps people desist crime is “Human

Agency” or the purposeful execution of choice and free will. Former delinquent

may choose to go straight and develop a new sense of self and identity. They

can choose to desist from crime and become family men and hard workers.

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 While some people persist in crime because they find it lucrative

and serve as an outlet of their frustration. Human choice could not be left out

of equation.

Trajectories, Transition, and Turning Points:

One of the most important contributions is identifying the life events

that enable adult offenders to desist from crime. Accordingly, trajectories are

long term patterns in life, while transitions are short term events embedded in

trajectories. Both transitions and trajectories can have a positive or negative

connotation. Positive transition is graduating from college, and negative

trajectory might be joining in a gang.

A major concept in the Sampson and Laub theory is that criminal

careers are dynamic process in which an important life event can (a) produce

a transition in a life course, and (b) change the direction of person’s life

course trajectory which is referred to as Turning Points.

Social Capital - positive relations with individuals and institutions that

are life sustaining. Laub and Simpson view the development of social capital

as essential for desistance. Successful marriage and career improves

person’s feeling of self-worth, develop stature, and encourage people to trust

the individual which will result to inhibit in commission of crime due to

conformity.

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Testing Age-Graded Theory

 People change over the life course and that the factors that

predict delinquency in adolescent, such as weak bond to parents, may have

less of an impact on adult crime when other factors, such as marriage and

family, take on greater importance.

 Criminality appears to be dynamic and is affected both by the

erosion of informal social control and by interaction with antisocial influences.

 As levels of cumulative disadvantage increase, crime – resisting

elements of social life are impaired.

 Criminal career trajectories can be reversed if life conditions

improve and they gain social capital. Gaining social capital later in life erase

some of the damage caused by its absence in youth. Delinquents who

entered military service and received veteran’s benefits enhance their

occupational status while reducing criminal involvement.

The Marriage Factor – People who cannot sustain secure marital

relationships are less likely to desist from crime. People who can find spouse

who supports them despite knowing about their past misdeeds are the ones

most likely to steer away from the path of crime. Marriage both transforms

people and reduces their opportunity to commit crime. Spending time in

marital and family activities reduces exposure to deviant peers, which in turn

reduces the opportunity to become involved in criminal activities.

Even people who have histories of criminal activity and have been

convicted of serious offenses reduce the frequency of their offending if they

live with spouses and maintain employment when they are in the community.

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The marriage benefit may also be intergenerational: children grow up in two-

parent families are more likely to later have happy marriage themselves than

children who are the product of divorced and never-married parents. If people

with marital problems are more crime prone, their children will also suffer a

greater long – term risk of marital failure and antisocial activity.

Future Research Directions – Although age-grade theory has

received enormous attention, there are still many questions left answered.

Probably the most important issue that must be answered is whether the

relationships that underpin age-graded theory are still valid today. The theory

lived in a world that was quite different today; they did not watch violent video

games or TV shows. They used alcohol but were not part of a drug culture;

marriage was the norm and divorce rate was much lower; globalization and

wide scale job loss were not issues.

Recent research conducted by Ryan Schroeder show that getting

involved in the drug culture has a much more damaging effect on marriage

and employment than heavy alcohol abuse.

LATENT TRAIT THEORIES

A number of people in the population have a personal attribute or

characteristic that controls their inclination or propensity to commit crimes.

This disposition is called Latent Trait, it may be present at birth or established

early in life, and it can remain stable over time. Suspected latent traits include

defective intelligence, damage or impulsive personality, genetic abnormalities,

the physical-chemical functioning of the brain, and environmental influences

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on brain functions such as drugs, chemicals, and injuries. Regardless of

gender and environment, those who possess one of these suspect traits may

be at risk to crime and danger of becoming career criminals; those who lack

the traits have much lower risk. Because latent traits are stable, people who

are antisocial during adolescence are the most likely to persist in crime.

The Elements of Impulsivity:

Signs that a person has low Self- Control
Insensitive Lacks Diligence
Physical Lacks Tenacity
Short sighted Adventuresome
Nonverbal Self-centered
Here and Now orientation Shameless
Unstable social relations Imprudent
Enjoys deviant behaviour Lacks cognitive and verbal skills
Risk Taker Enjoys danger and excitement
Refuses to work for distant goals

Crime Rate Variations – Crime is rational and predictable; people

commit crime when it promises rewards with minimal threat of pain; the threat

of punishment can deter crime. If targets are well guarded, crime rates

diminish. The propensity to commit crimes remains stable throughout a

person’s life. Change in the frequency of criminal activity is purely a function

of change in criminal opportunity.

Environment and Impulsivity – In a high – crime neighbourhoods,

everyone commits crime, regardless of personality dimensions, Even if they

can control their criminal urges, people fear losing respect if they choose not

to offend. In contrast high-income, low-crime areas, non-impulsive people are

better to conform, while those lacking self-control are immune from their

community-level informal social control and collective efficacy. As

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neighbourhood affluence and organization increase, the influence of low self-

control becomes greater.

Self – Control and Crime – Gottfredson and Hirschi claim that the

principle of self-control theory can explain all varieties of criminal behaviour

and all the social and behavioural correlates of crime. That is, such widely

disparate crimes as burglary, robbery, embezzlement, drug dealing, murder,

rape, and insider trading all stem from a deficiency of self-control. Likewise,

gender, racial, and ecological differences in crime rates can be explained by

discrepancies in self-control and unlike other theoretical claims that explain

only narrow segments of criminal behaviour. They stressed that self-control

applies equally to all crimes, ranging from murder to corporate theft. White-

collar crimes rates remain low because people who lack self-control rarely

attain the position necessary to commit those crimes. However, the relatively

few white-collar criminals lack self-control to the same degree and in the

same manner as criminals.

Empirical Support to GTC (General Theory of Crimes) – The

general consensus of this research is that people with low self-control and

poor impulse control are the most likely to engage in more serious crime. The

lower the persons’ self-control, the more likely they are to engage in antisocial

behaviours. The lack of self-control may begin in early adolescence and be

manifested in aggressive behaviour that turn kids into bullies. Aggressive

bullies are rejected by other kids, marginalized, and prone to school failure, a

path that winds up in a delinquent way of life,

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Analysing the General Theory of Crime – By integrating the

concepts of socialization and criminality, people who lack self-control can

escape criminality. People who are at risk because they have impulsive

personalities may forgo criminal careers because there are no criminal

opportunities that satisfy their impulsive needs; instead, they may find other

outlets for their impulsive personalities. In contrast, if the opportunity is strong

enough, even people with strong self-control may be tempted to violate the

law; the incentives to commit crime may override the self-control.

General Theory of Crime seems persuasive but several queries

and criticism remain unanswered, among the most important are the

following:

 Tautological – some critics argue that it is repetitive or

redundant however Gottfredson and Hirschi counter by saying that impulsivity

is not itself a propensity to commit crime but a condition that inhibits people

from appreciating long-term consequences of their behaviour. Consequently,

if given the opportunity, they are more likely to indulge in criminal acts than

their non-impulsive counterparts. Impulsivity and criminality are neither

identical nor equivalent. Some impulsive people may channel their reckless

energies into non-criminal activities others may bend the rules for their own

benefit.

 Different Classes of Criminals - GTC visions that a single

factor causes crime and that there is a single class of offender. This,

contradicts with Moffitt two classes of criminals – adolescent-limited and life

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course persistent. Other researchers also found that there may be different

criminal paths or trajectories. Most criminal tend to be generalist who engage

in variety of criminal acts and some specialist in violent crimes and others in

theft offenses.

 Ecological Differences – GTC also fails to address individual

and ecological patterns in crime rate. The difference of crime rates in the rural

and urban areas. If the crime rate in urban is higher than the rural, does it

mean urban people are impulsive? The account for the influence of culture,

ecology, and economy were also being subject for criticism but according to

Gottfredson and Hirschi, crime rate differences reflect in criminal opportunity:

the effectiveness of law enforcement, more draconian laws, and higher level

of guardianship. Opportunity is controlled by economy and culture.

 Racial and Gender Differences – Although distinct gender

differences in the crime rate exists, there is little evidence that males are more

impulsive than females.

 Moral Beliefs – GTC ignores the moral concept of right and

wrong however Olena Antonaccio and Charles Tittle found that holding moral

values may trump low self-control. High moral standards can inhibit crime

even among impulsive individuals.

 Peer Influence – The finding of GTC suggests that influence of

friends should be stable and unchanging and that a relationship established

later in life should not influence criminal propensity. However, a number of

research efforts show that the quality of peer relations either enhances or

controls criminal behaviour and that these influences vary over time. As

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children mature, peer influence continues to grow. Kids with low self-control

also have trouble maintaining relationship with law abiding peers.

 People Change – GTC assumed that criminal propensity does

not change however involvement in an organized activities and self-regulation

programs has shown to improve personality traits in at-risk-kids. As people

mature, they may be better able to control their impulsive behaviour and

reduce their criminal activities.

 Effective Parenting – Parenting can influence self-control in

later adolescence and kids who receive improved parenting may improve their

self-control much later in the life course.

 Modest Relationship – self-control is a casual factor in criminal

and other forms of deviant behaviour, but that the association is at best quite

modest. This would predict that other forces influence criminal behaviour and

that low self-control alone cannot predict the onset of a criminal or deviant

career.

 Cross – Cultural Differences – Behaviour that may be

considered imprudent in one culture may be socially acceptable in another

and therefore cannot be viewed as lack of self-control.

 Misreads Human Nature – People are essentially selfish, self-

serving, and hedonistic and must therefore be controlled lest they gratify

themselves at the expense of others.

 One of Many causes – Social cultural factors have been found

to make an independent contribution to criminal offending patterns. Lack of

Self direction is also among psychological characteristics that set criminals

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apart from the general population. Law violators also exhibit lower resting

heart rates and perform poorly on tasks that trigger cognitive functions.

 Some Criminal are not impulsive – The economic aspects of

the decision to join the gang can be viewed as a tournament in which

participants vie for large awards that only small fraction will eventually obtain.

Gang members are willing to wait for their time to become at the top of the

echelon which contradicts the GTC views that criminal offender are impatient

and present oriented.

 Self-Control may waiver- Gottfredson and Hirschi assume that

impulsivity is a singular construct-one is either impulsive or not. However,

there may be more than one kind of impulsive personality and it may waiver

over time. Some people maybe impulsive because they are sensation seekers

who are constantly looking for novel experiences, while others lack

deliberation and rarely think through problems. Some may give up easily while

others act without thinking. Some persist in self – control while others get tired

and eventually succumb to their impulses.

While there has been criticism against GTC, it remains as one of the

important criminological theories of the past few decades. The strength of

GTC lies in its scope and breadth: it attempts to explain all forms of crime and

deviance, by integrating concepts of criminal choice, criminal opportunity,

socialization, and personality, Gottfredson and Hirschi make a plausible

argument that all deviant behaviour may originate at the same source.

TRAJECTORY THEORIES

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Trajectory theory is a third developmental approach that combines

elements of latent trait and life course theory. The basic premise is that there

is more than one path to crime and more than one class of offender; there are

different trajectories in criminal career.

Early, Late, and Non-Starters – Trajectory theory implies that not all

persistent offenders begin at an early age. Some are precocious, beginning

their criminal careers early and persisting into adulthood. Others stay out of

trouble until their teenage years or the so-called “Late Bloomers”. Some peak

at early age and some persist in adulthood. There are even classes of chronic

offenders, they are the High-rate offenders and low frequency but are

persistent in their criminal activities. Trajectory theories hold that people begin

their offending careers at different points of their lives and follow different

offending trajectories.

Pathway to Crime – Trajectory theory recognizes that criminals may

travel more than a single road. Some may specialize in violence and extortion;

some maybe involved in theft and fraud; others in variety of criminal acts.

Three (3) Distinct Paths to a Criminal Act by Rolf Loeber:

 The Authority Conflict Pathway - early age with stubborn

behaviour. This leads to defiance and then to authority avoidance.

 The Covert Pathway – begins with minor, underhanded

behaviour that leads to property damage. This behaviour escalates to more

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serious forms of criminality, ranging from joyriding, pocket picking to stealing

cars, drug dealing and breaking.

 The Overt Pathway – escalates to aggressive acts beginning

with aggression leading to physical fighting, and then to violence.

Adolescent-Limited Offenders vs. Life Course Persisters

Adolescent – Limited Offenders – considered “typical teenagers” who

get into rebellious teenage behaviour with their friends. As they reach their

mid-teens, adolescent – limited delinquents begin to mimic the antisocial

behaviour of more troubled teens, only to reduce frequency as they mature to

around age 18.

Life Course persisters – begin their offending career at a very early age

and continue to offend well into adulthood. They are more likely to manifest

abnormal personal traits, such a low verbal ability, impaired reasoning skills,

limited learning ability, and weak spatial and memory function.

Life course persisters offend more frequently and engage in a greater

variety of antisocial acts than the other offendres; they also manifest

significantly more mental health problems including psychiatric pathologies,

than adolescent – limited offenders.

EVALUATING DEVELOPMENTAL THEORIES

Life course theories emphasize the influence of changing interpersonal

and structural factors. Latent trait theories place more emphasis on the fact

that behaviour is linked less to personal change and more to changes in the

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surrounding world. Trajectory theories find that there are different classes of

offenders who may change at different points of their criminal career.

PUBLIC POLICY IMPLICATIONS OF DEVELOPMENT THEORY

There have been a number of policy initiatives based on premises of

developmental theory. These typical feature multi systemic treatment efforts

designed to provide at-risk kids with personal, social, educational, and family

services. Various programs found that an intervention that promotes

academic success, social competence, and educational enhancement during

the elementary grades can reduce risky sexual practices and their

accompanying health consequences in early adulthood.

Most of the programs focused on strengthening children’s social-

emotional competence and positive coping skills and suppressing the

development of antisocial, aggressive behaviour.

SUMMARY

The foundation of Developmental theory is Sheldon and Eleanor

Glueck’s integration of biological, psychological, and social factors. Later the

Gluecks data was rediscovered by criminologists Robert Sampson and John

Laub. The Philadelphia cohort research by Marvin Wolfgang and his

associates investigated criminal career development. Rolf Loeber and Marc

LeBlanc proposed that criminologists should devote time and effort to

understanding basic questions about the evolution of criminal careers.

Life course theories view criminality as a dynamic process influenced

by a multitude of individual characteristics, traits, and social experiences. Life

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Course theories look at such issues as the onset of crime, the escalation of

offenses, the persistence of crime, and desistance from crime. Latent trait

theories believe that human development is controlled by a mater trait that

guides human development and gives some people an increased propensity

to commit crime. Trajectory theory holds that there are multiple path ways to

crime.

At an early age, people begin their relationship and behavior that will

determine their adult life course. Some individuals are incapable of maturing

in a reasonable and timely fashion. A positive life experience may help some

criminals desist from crime for a while, but a negative experience may cause

them to resume their criminal activities. As people mature, the factors that

influence their behavior change. The social, physical, and environmental

influences on their behavior are transformed.

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