Criminology / Life Course Theory
November, 30th 2012
CRJ102 161
Criminology; "The study of the making of laws, the breaking of laws, and the social reaction to the breaking of laws." (Fuller: Pg 4.) In other words it is the study of how people acknowledge how crime is comited and the resoning behing it, as well as peoples reaction to it. One of the theories that one can study through Criminology is the Life Course Theory, which is "a perspective that focuses on the development of antisocial behavior, risk factors at different ages, and the effect of life events on individual development." (Fuller: Pg 140.) This refers to a "multidisciplinary paradigm" for the study of people 's lives, structural contexts, and social change in which they find what are the causes and factors that go into the birth of criminal actions. One of the theories of Criminology is the Integrated theories of crime, it represents an attempt to bridge the ideological differences that exist among various older theories of crime by integrating variables from disparate theoretical approaches. By integrating a variety of ecological, socialization, psychological, biological, and economic factors into a coherent structure, such theories overcome the shortcomings of older theories that may be criticized on the grounds of reductionism. One way one can aproach this through analizing crime by the reasoning behind it, such as the way a subject may have grown up in a abusive home which led the subject to later in life adopt the same behavior. Antisocial behavior begins early in life and often continues through adolescence and adulthood. Early antisocial behavior can lead to more serious consequences and early intervention prevents delinquency. The adolescent-limited delinquent breaks the law only during youth. Life-course-persistent offernders continue to break the law and engange in antisocial behavior well into adulthood. On the other hand the Intergrated theory uses several theories to explain more types of antisocial
CRJ102 161
Criminology; "The study of the making of laws, the breaking of laws, and the social reaction to the breaking of laws." (Fuller: Pg 4.) In other words it is the study of how people acknowledge how crime is comited and the resoning behing it, as well as peoples reaction to it. One of the theories that one can study through Criminology is the Life Course Theory, which is "a perspective that focuses on the development of antisocial behavior, risk factors at different ages, and the effect of life events on individual development." (Fuller: Pg 140.) This refers to a "multidisciplinary paradigm" for the study of people 's lives, structural contexts, and social change in which they find what are the causes and factors that go into the birth of criminal actions. One of the theories of Criminology is the Integrated theories of crime, it represents an attempt to bridge the ideological differences that exist among various older theories of crime by integrating variables from disparate theoretical approaches. By integrating a variety of ecological, socialization, psychological, biological, and economic factors into a coherent structure, such theories overcome the shortcomings of older theories that may be criticized on the grounds of reductionism. One way one can aproach this through analizing crime by the reasoning behind it, such as the way a subject may have grown up in a abusive home which led the subject to later in life adopt the same behavior. Antisocial behavior begins early in life and often continues through adolescence and adulthood. Early antisocial behavior can lead to more serious consequences and early intervention prevents delinquency. The adolescent-limited delinquent breaks the law only during youth. Life-course-persistent offernders continue to break the law and engange in antisocial behavior well into adulthood. On the other hand the Intergrated theory uses several theories to explain more types of antisocial
Cited: Fuller, John R. Think Criminology. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. Print. Gazzaniga, M. S. (1985). The Social Brain - Discovering the Networks of the Mind. New York; Basic Books Montagu, A. (1966). On Being Human. New York: Hawthorn Books;