Criminology Developmental Theories: Life Course, Latent Trait & Trajectory Analysis
Introduction
The field of modern criminology makes clear that people have different reasons for violating the law. When career criminals are considered, the situation is even more challenging because multiple factors collide, affecting individuals and leading them to commit crimes throughout their lives repeatedly. This understanding gave rise to a few developmental theories that are used to explain the onset, continuation, and termination of people’s criminal careers. The evaluation of the Life Course, Latent Trait, and Trajectory theories reveals that each of them implies certain strengths and weaknesses, and it is impossible to state which framework is the best.
Life Course
The Life Course theories group assumes that criminality is a dynamic and challenging process. As people grow and age, they encounter changing experiences and perceptions that shape their characteristics, traits, and social interactions (McGee et al., 2021). As a result, people’s behavior is influenced, leading some to engage in criminal activities. This group is versatile and comprises a few subcategories. First, the Intersectional Theory argues that criminals experience lifestyle changes that affect their attitudes to and involvement in illegal behaviors (Siegel, 2020). The combination of sociological and psychological aspects is a leading strength of this premise.
Second, the General Theory of Crime and Delinquency states that five domains, such as self, family, school, peers, and work, can determine if a person starts a criminal career (Siegel, 2020). This approach is beneficial because it reveals the connection between crime and various spheres of social life. Third, the Age-Graded Theory shows that various phenomena can play a decisive role for people of different ages (Siegel, 2020). A common weakness of all these assumptions is that a person’s responsibility is undervalued.
Latent Trait
Latent Trait theories offer a different approach and acknowledge individual differences. These assumptions stipulate that every person has a master trait that shapes their behavior and vulnerability to delinquency (Pöge, 2020). It is a generic term that is used to denote a few more specific approaches. The Integrated Cognitive Antisocial Potentials indicates that people have antisocial potentials that affect their actions and adherence to social and legal rules (Siegel, 2020). This framework is effective because it relies on the fact that some people are born with higher antisocial potential, which justifies their delinquency.
The General Theory of Crime explains that a person commits a crime when they lack self-control (Siegel, 2020). Finally, regular exposure to coercive environments contributes to crime, as per the Differential Coercion Theory (Siegel, 2020). A leading strength of this approach lies in justifying the claim that coercion is a master trait. However, the application of these theories is limited because they fail to adequately account for external factors and processes that affect people’s choices.
Trajectory Theory
Finally, the Trajectory Theory stipulates that there is no single explanation for why people perform crimes. This framework insists that there are different pathways for a person to begin a criminal career (Zhao et al., 2020). In this case, a criminal’s age, gender, and culture can be a decisive factor (Siegel, 2020). A crucial strength is that this theoretical assumption highlights individual aspects and shows that people can overcome different paths to becoming criminals. A limitation is that the focus is only on a person’s stable traits, which oversimplifies the problem.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the paper has demonstrated that multiple developmental theories exist to explain why different people become delinquents. Three large groups offer a few narrow frameworks that try to emphasize the most significant factors affecting a person’s decisions and behavior. The presented approaches highlight different concepts and entail significant strengths and weaknesses. That is why it is impossible to rank them or identify the most effective theory; it is therefore reasonable to use them jointly to achieve more reliable results.
References
McGee, T. R., Whitten, T., Williams, C., Jolliffe, D., & Farrington, D. P. (2021). Classification of patterns of offending in developmental and life-course criminology, with special reference to persistence. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 59.
Pöge, A. (2020). Stability and change of values during the formative years: Latent state-trait analyses of adolescents in a seven‐wave panel study. Journal of Personality, 88(2), 266-286.
Siegel, L. J. (2020). Criminology: Theories, patterns, and typologies (13th ed.). Cengage Learning.
Zhao, Q., Cepeda, A., Chou, C. P., & Valdez, A. (2020). Maternal incarceration trajectories and the intergenerational transmission of imprisonment: A nationwide study. Children and Youth Services Review, 118.
