The transition from adolescence to adulthood involves major life course trajectories, including education, work, residence, family formation and parenthood. It is a time of opportunity and vulnerability, a time of positive turnaround and redirection as well as a criminological crossroads. For some who began their criminal careers during adolescence, offending continues and escalates; for others, crime involvement wanes; and yet others only become seriously involved in crime later in their transition to adulthood. This bulletin describes five broad theoretical perspectives that explain
these patterns of offending: (1) static theories, (2) dynamic or life-course developmental models, (3) social psychological theories, (4) the developmental psychopathological perspective, and (5) the biopsychosocial perspective.
- Static theories
hold that behavior emerges in a predictable sequence and
unfolds at roughly the same age for all individuals. According to these
theories, the causes of criminal behavior are established early in life and
are relatively stable and unaffected by events. Youth who experience poor
parenting and have harsh, brittle relationships with their parents, for example, are likely to have low self-control and
therefore relatively high levels of offending at all
ages. According to static theories, individuals tend
to maintain their general position relative to others
with respect to their levels of offending. The peak
of adolescent offending is assumed to be the result
of normative developmental changes.
- Dynamic or life-course developmental models
assume a plasticity to human behavior that persists
throughout life, acknowledge the importance of
early individual and parenting differences, and
contend that changing social environments are the
primary drivers of offending behavior. According
to dynamic models, continuing to offend into
adulthood is the outcome of processes that were set
in motion by earlier developmental issues. Young
offenders who stop committing crimes are those
who re-establish bonds to conventional society and
who engage in prosocial activities, such as school,
work and marriage.
- Social psychological theories
of criminal behavior
emphasize subjective life experiences, such as
the development of one’s identity, cognitive and
emotional processes, and the capacity to make
choices. One social psychological explanation
for continuing criminal behavior into adulthood
is hostile attribution bias — the tendency to attribute negative intentions to others. It is widely
recognized that motivation to change is the first
step in behavioral change. Desistance from crime
occurs when young offenders who are motivated
to change redefine themselves so that criminal
behavior is no longer compatible with their new
identity.
- The developmental psychopathological
perspective
brings together ideas from several
disciplines. In this perspective, development
is a series of dynamic interactions among an
individual’s genetic makeup, life experiences
and social relationships. Early experiences can
be carried forward, while the possibility of
change continues throughout life. Early negative
experiences can have negative biological influences,
such as altered brain development or inappropriate
reactions to stress. These are carried forward and
can result in a cascade of subsequent problems.
Developmental psychopathology underscores the
possibility of both opportunity and vulnerability
during times of change in an individual’s life (e.g.,
puberty, entering or leaving school, leaving home).
The transition to adulthood, for example, is a
period of concentrated change, which provides
possible explanations for either stopping or
reducing involvement in crime or becoming more
involved in it later in life.
- The biopsychosocial perspective
regards behavior
as a complex interaction among biological,
psychological, interpersonal and environmental
processes. This perspective argues that a single
explanatory framework is insufficient. For
example, self-regulation, sensitivity to reward
and punishment, and fear conditioning, which are associated with aggression, are related to
brain development but also are influenced by
factors such as the family environment and peer
relationships.
A strong theme emerges in all five theories:
Disorderly transitions, such as teen parenthood and
failing to complete high school, have long-term
negative consequences. It is vital to develop effective
prevention and early intervention programs to reduce
the occurrence of these disorderly transitions. Doing
so not only improves transitions in general but is
also likely to reduce the prevalence and frequency
of criminal offending during early adulthood.
Additional research that continues to test these
theories will create a better understanding of
other scientific factors that are associated with the
development of criminal behavior.
The malleability and changes in criminal behavior
observed among youth and young adults in their
teens and 20s make it difficult to justify applying
permanent or long-term sanctions to young
offenders. Policies such as life sentences without
the possibility of parole or the lifelong application
of civil disabilities, such as disenfranchisement,
assume that criminality is a fixed trait that crystallizes
early in the life course and is immutable thereafter.
Criminological theory and the available empirical
evidence call into question such assumptions,
suggesting instead that change is common.
Points of view or opinions expressed in this
document are those of the author and do not
necessarily represent the official position or
policies of NIJ, OJJDP, or the U.S. Department
of Justice.
Reprinted from NCJ 242933: Bulletin 3: Explanations for Offending by Terence
P. Thornberry, Peggy C. Giordano, Christopher Uggen, Mauri Matsuda, Ann
S. Masten, Erik Bulten, Andrea G. Donker and David Petechuk
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