Explain the three interrelated views of developmental theory as well as your thoughts on this theory

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

• 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 that the factors that cause antisocial behaviors change dramatically over a person's lifespan.
• Human development is controlled by a latent trait theory that remains stable and unchanging throughout a person's lifetime.
• As people travel through their life course this trait or propensity is always there, directing their behavior. Because this master latent trait is enduring, the ebb and flow of delinquent behavior is shaped less by personal change and more by the impact of external forces such as delinquent opportunity.
• Delinquency may increase when an adolescent joins a gang, which provides him with more opportunities to steal, take drugs, and attack others. In other words, the propensity to commit delinquent acts is constant, but the opportunity to commit them is constantly fluctuating.
• A third view suggests there are multiple trajectories in a delinquent career. According to this approach there are subgroups within a population that follow distinctively different developmental trajectories toward and away from a delinquent career.
• Trajectory theory suggests that there are different types and classes of offenders.
• Student view will vary.