Crime and Delinquency

Developmental theory of delinquency looks at the onset, continuity, and termination of a delinquent career Life-course theory suggests that delinquent behavior is a dynamic process, influenced by individual characteristics as well as social experiences, and the factors that cause antisocial behaviors change dramatically over a person's life span Propensity theory suggests that a stable feature, characteristic, property, or condition, such as defective intelligence or impulsive personality, makes some people delinquency prone over the course of life Trajectory theory suggests that there is more than one path to a delinquent career Problem behavior syndrome (PBS) a cluster of antisocial behaviors that may include lots of things integrated theories theories that incorporate social, personal, and developmental factors into complex explanations of human behavior social capital positive relations with individuals and institutions, as in a successful marriage or a successful career, that conventional behavior and inhibit deviant behavior turning points positive life experiences cumulative delinquency the tendency of prior social problems to produce future ones that accumulate and undermine success state dependence the propensity to commit crime profoundly and permanently disrupts normal socialization over the life course General Theory of Crime (GTC) a developmental theory that mandates social control theory by integrating concepts from biosocial, psychological, routine activities, and rational choice theories self-control theory the theory of delinquency that holds that antisocial behavior is caused by a lack of self-control stemming from an impulsive personality authority conflict theory pathway to delinquent deviance that begins at an early age with stubborn behavior and leads to defiance and then to authority avoidance covert pathway pathway to a delinquent career that begins with minor underhanded behavior, leads to property damage, and eventually escalates to more serious forms of theft and fraud overt pathway begins with minor aggression, leads to physical fighting, and eventually escalates to violent delinquency

life-course persisters delinquents who begin their offending career at a very early age and continue to offend well into adulthood latent trait a trait that makes delinquency prone over the course of lie adolescent limited offenders kids who get into minor scrapes but misbehavior ends when they enter adulthood life course persisters being at youth and continue into adulthood