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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 1:11 am
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Results for life course
5 results foundAuthor: Van de Rakt, M.G.A. Title: Two Generations of Crime: The Intergenerational Transmission of Criminal Convictions over the Life Course Summary: Does criminal behavior of fathers lead to criminal behavior of their children? Do the children of offenders commit more crimes in the years after their fathers were convicted of a criminal act? What happens to the criminality of children when fathers are imprisoned? This study investigates one of the most important plausible causes of criminal behavior: the criminal behavior of the father. Previous research has shown the importance of fathers in predicting the criminal behavior of children. However, studies of the influence of fathers on children’s criminal behavior tend to focus on the parents as a preventative factor, mostly using the perspective of social control theory. This theory expects individuals to refrain from committing crimes so as not to jeopardize their relationship with their parents. Children’s strong attachment with their parents combined with the supervision parents provide explains the lack of delinquent behavior among children. In some cases, however, having a strong bond with one’s father could in fact lead to a higher chance of committing a criminal act. Research shows that the children of criminal fathers are much more likely to commit a crime themselves. Empirically the relationship between a father’s criminal behavior and criminal behavior of his children is well established. The larger part of this research, however, remains descriptive and focuses on cross-sectional relations between the criminal acts of fathers and those of their children. Rowe & Farrington (1997), for instance, reveal a correlation of 0.43 between the criminal convictions of children and their fathers. According to Thornberry et al. (2003), delinquent behavior of parents directly influences the delinquent behavior of children. Other studies show similar results. Nonetheless, the empirical studies done so far face substantial shortcomings. First, most studies use small samples and retrospective designs. Second, the studies do not analyze the influence of paternal criminal behavior after adolescence. Third, most studies focus on sons and neglect the influence of paternal criminality on daughters. Fourth, most studies lack a comparable control group. Finally, although explanations for the transmission of criminal behavior are suggested, the studies neglect to consistently test criminological theories. In this study, we investigate the intergenerational transmission of convictions. We improve on the drawbacks of previous studies in five ways. First, we use a large and prospective sample. Second, we investigate the influence of paternal offending on complete criminal life courses, from childhood until adulthood. This allows us to establish the intergenerational transmission of convictions well into maturity. Third, we investigate daughters as well as sons. Fourth, we analyze both criminal fathers and non-criminal fathers, as well as criminal children and non-criminal children. Finally, we explicitly deduce and test hypotheses from criminological theories. We first analyze the extent of the intergenerational transmission of criminal behavior by focusing on the relationship between the criminal convictions of fathers and the criminal convictions of their sons and daughters. Using a longitudinal, life-course perspective, we investigate development of the complete criminal careers of both parents and children. In doing so, we adopt a broad interpretation of intergenerational transmission, focusing on various aspects of paternal criminality. Specifically, we explore four aspects of intergenerational transmission: (1) the influence of the timing of criminal convictions of fathers, (2) the influence of parental divorce, (3) the influence of paternal imprisonment and (4) the influence of criminal convictions of mothers and siblings. Our data contains information on all recorded offences committed from age 12 onwards. We use only those cases that were followed by a conviction. Crime debates dominate public and political agendas, and societies are demanding better understanding of the causes and correlates of crime. Yet in order to make crime prevention programs more effective, knowledge is needed about the influences of paternal criminal behavior. The study presented in this thesis contributes to knowledge about the influences of the nuclear family on the development of criminal behavior. Our focus on the development of criminal careers over time provides insights into the causal order and the timing of influences of paternal criminal behavior. These insights could be helpful for policymakers in designing crime prevention programs. Details: Nijmegen, The Netherlands: Radboud University, 2011. 207p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands: Accessed July 14, 2011 at: http://repository.ubn.ru.nl/bitstream/2066/83192/1/dissertatie_marieke_14nov%20(2).pdf Year: 2011 Country: International URL: http://repository.ubn.ru.nl/bitstream/2066/83192/1/dissertatie_marieke_14nov%20(2).pdf Shelf Number: 122059 Keywords: Criminal Behavior, Longitudinal StudiesCriminal CareersFamiliesLife Course |
Author: Corrado, Raymond R. Title: Youth At-Risk of Serious and Life-Course Offending: Risk Profiles, Trajectories, and Interventions Summary: One of the enduring criminal justice policy issues facing most democratic governments is the reduction of serious and violent offending by both youth and adults. While it is not yet evident whether there has been a reduction in the continuity of offending from adolescence into adulthood in Canada, comparative research from England overwhelmingly confirmed this continuity (Farrington, 2002). In effect, two related major crime prevention policy challenges are how to reduce the levels of adolescent and adult serious offending and how to disrupt the criminal trajectory linking child delinquency, serious adolescent criminality, and serious adult criminality. Since the 1990s, there has been a substantial increase in research confirming the importance of well known risk factors for serious and violent young offenders. In addition, there has been a concomitant increase in the evaluations of intervention programs designed to reduce risk factors. This report reviews the most recent literature that identifies the range of risk factors, the developmental patterns of risk factors, and highlights appropriate age-stage intervention approaches for youth with varying risk profiles. Part of the success of more recent interventions can be attributed to the development of more sophisticated risk assessment instruments. These instruments range from brief screenings for specific risks, such as sexual aggression, to comprehensive instruments designed to identify life-course risk factors. While the related concepts of risk and protective factors for antisocial behaviours is well established, there has been a recent emphasis toward explaining the inherently complex interaction between risk and protective factors. Another major shift in research on serious and violent youth was the emergence of bio-psychological risk factors. While much of this research remains tentative, it has very important implications for both the identification of additional and possibly critical risk factors, as well as the development of new intervention strategies that could be implemented very early on in the life-course and at later stages of development. This report is based on a review of relevant risk factors that must be taken into consideration when applying interventions to prevent, reduce, or respond to youth at risk of serious and life-course offending. Discussion of these risk factors is presented in the format of pathway models that are hypothesized to illustrate the clustering of risk factors among distinct groups of young offenders. These groups are believed to be qualitatively different from each other and while they may exhibit several similar behavioural problems, these problems are experienced differently among the different types of youth and thus must be targeted differently. The key assumption of these models is that there are various groups of young offenders who present with different “causes” of antisocial behaviour. Effective and sustained reductions of antisocial behaviour in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood require interventions that address these causal risk factors, as opposed to behavioural outcomes associated with these causes. Details: Ottawa, Canada: National Crime Prevention Centre, Public Safety Canada, 2011. 42p. Source: Research Report: 2011-02: Internet Resource: Accessed August 8, 2012 at http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/res/cp/res/_fl/2011-yar-eng.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Canada URL: http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/res/cp/res/_fl/2011-yar-eng.pdf Shelf Number: 125939 Keywords: At-Risk Youth (Canada)Criminal Careers (Canada)Juvenile Offenders (Canada)Life CoursePersistent Young Offenders (Canada) |
Author: Schoenberger, Nicole Ann Title: The Effect of Marriage and Employment on Criminal Desistance: The Influence of Race Summary: Life course theorists argue that key transitions such as marriage and employment heavily influence criminal desistance in adulthood among those who committed delinquent acts during their adolescence. Laub and Sampson (1993), authors of the dominant life course theory in criminology, adhere to the general principle of social bonding: if an individual has weak bonds to society, he or she will have an increased chance of committing crime. Consequentially, the prosocial bonds formed in adulthood through marriage and employment will increase the likelihood of criminal desistance. Although much research supports this notion, race has generally been left out of the discourse. Laub and Sampson (1993), in fact, note that their life course theory is race-neutral. For this and other reasons, very few researchers have examined whether and how race plays a role within life course theory. This is surprising insofar as race is an important correlate of crime, marriage, employment, and other life course transitions that are associated with criminal desistance. Because of this potentially serious omission in the research literature, the current study uses data from Waves 1, 2 and 4 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) to examine differences in the effect of marriage and employment on desistance among 3,479 Black, Hispanic, and White men. Results show that classic life theory applies to Whites, but less so to Blacks and Hispanics. For Black men, having a job for five years or longer is the strongest predictor of criminal desistance, while the most salient factor for desistance among Hispanic men is being in a cohabiting union. For White men, being in a high quality marriage and being employed full time are both strong predictors of desistance. This research also examines several factors that are not adequately addressed in the existing literature on life course theory such as the effect of cohabitation, marital timing, and job loss. The data show that cohabiting unions increase the likelihood of adult criminality among Hispanic men. Furthermore, cohabiting prior to marriage and marrying at earlier ages increases the likelihood of adult criminality among married men. In regard to employment, the loss of a job through either being fired or being laid off increases the likelihood of adult criminality for White men, those aged 30 or older, and among higher SES respondents. The results also show that age and social class influence the effect that several life course factors have on desistance. For instance, cohabitation is a significant predictor of adult criminality among lower SES respondents, while a high quality marriage is an important predictor among higher SES respondents. Similarly, the analyses showed that having a job was a strong predictor of desistance among 24-26 year olds, while job loss was most salient among those aged 30 or older. Overall, the results from this study show that the specific mechanisms of desistance are somewhat different for each race, and that they vary by both age and social class. The implication of these findings is that life course theory is not entirely race neutral, and that it must be sensitive to how the influence of life course factors on desistance are conditioned by these important demographic variables. Details: Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University, 2012. 153p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed March 5, 2013 at: http://etd.ohiolink.edu/view.cgi?acc_num=bgsu1339560808 Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://etd.ohiolink.edu/view.cgi?acc_num=bgsu1339560808 Shelf Number: 127849 Keywords: AgeDesistanceEmploymentEthnicityLife CourseMarriageOffendersRaceSocial Class |
Author: Duncan, Greg J. Title: Early School Skills and Behaviors: Precursors to Young Adult Crime? Summary: We investigate primary school precursors to criminal involvement in early adulthood. Two large longitudinal datasets, Children of the National Longitudinal Youth Study (NLSY) and the Beginning School Study (BSS), provide us with estimates of the association between criminal involvement by around age 21 on the one hand and four primary school indicators—reading and math skills, attention problems, and antisocial behavior problems—on the other. Looking first at bivariate associations, we find significant correlations between early-adult crime and all of our early measures of skills and behaviors. Controls for either a handful of family background measures or concurrent primary-school skills and behaviors reduce all but the early antisocial behavior measure to statistical insignificance. Our detailed look at the persistence of early antisocial behavior problems show that children, particularly boys, with antisocial behavior that begins early and persists beyond age 10 or 11 are at the highest risk of later arrest or incarceration. Details: Prepared for presentation at the SRCD Biennial meetings, Denver, April, 2008. (Published, March 24, 2009). 34p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 22, 2013 at: http://fcd-us.org/sites/default/files/SRCDCrimePaperFinal032509.pdf Year: 2008 Country: United States URL: http://fcd-us.org/sites/default/files/SRCDCrimePaperFinal032509.pdf Shelf Number: 128085 Keywords: Education and Criminal Behavior (U.S.)Educational Skills and CrimeLife CourseLongitudinal ResearchNational Longitudinal Youth StudyPathways to Crime |
Author: Estrada, Felipe Title: Criminality and Life-Chances: A longitudinal study of crime, childhood circumstances and living conditions up to age 48 Summary: In this report, we direct our focus at the longer term consequences of involvement in crime. What does the future look like for those boys and girls who have been registered for crimes during their teenage years? We look at different groups defined on the basis of their level of involvement in crime during the life-course. We employ a new and rich longitudinal data set, The Stockholm Birth Cohort Study (SBC), which allows us to follow a cohort born in Stockholm in 1953 until they reach 48 years of age. One central finding is that the individuals who committed offences both as youths and as adults both came from markedly worse childhood conditions and had a significantly worse welfare situation in middle age. This is particularly true of the group of females who committed offences both as youths and as adults, who constitute a highly selected group, with experience of substantial childhood disadvantage. As adults, the majority of these women can be described as being in a state of social exclusion. A large proportion of them have no employment and have difficulty supporting themselves. Even though these things are also true of many of the men who persisted in offending into adulthood, it is important to note that in middle age, the majority of these men have some level of labour market attachment. For the vast majority of those who have committed offences life has turned out well. When we look at the cohort members’ family situation and labour market attachment, the differences between the youths who desisted from crime in their teenage years and those with no registered offending are quite small. The study illustrates both the negative long-term consequences of inequalities in childhood conditions, involvement in crime and the inability of society to resolve these problems. We also show that the youths who were unable to desist from crime when they became adults had themselves as children been looking forward to a very different future. An overwhelming majority of the cohort, irrespective of their degree of involvement in crime, had a similar view of what a good life would involve as an adult. The lives they then led as adults were apparently very different however. Details: Stockholm: Department of Criminology, Stockholm University, 2009. Source: Internet Resource: Department of Criminology Report Series, Report 2009:3: Accessed August 19, 2013 at: http://su.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:282982/FULLTEXT01 Year: 2009 Country: Sweden URL: http://su.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:282982/FULLTEXT01 Shelf Number: 129639 Keywords: Female OffendersLife CourseLongitudinal Studies (Sweden)Stockholm Birth Cohort Study |