NCJ Number
178536
Journal
Politics and the Life Sciences Volume: 16 Issue: 1 Dated: March 1997 Pages: 3-21
Date Published
1997
Length
19 pages
Annotation
The same evolutionary and ecological principles that organize the prevailing understanding of organisms and organic communities can be used to help understand criminal behavior and responses to it.
Abstract
This approach suggests solutions for an important dilemma, that preoccupation with problems such as gang violence, drug abuse, and street crime increasingly diverts resources and attention away from child development problems associated with the health, education, and welfare of young people. Just as consensus is emerging about the importance of balancing traditional criminal justice system approaches to crime control with nurturant approaches that address child development concerns, child development program resources are dwindling. This dynamic is driven by a vicious cycle of media sensationalism, political expediency, and public impatience that encourages ineffective "quick fixes" for crime. An evolutionary ecological approach to crime control suggests ways to reverse this vicious cycle and increase the political, programmatic, and economic feasibility of child development programs. An appendix identifies individual-level factors affecting the development of criminality. 131 references, 8 notes, and 3 figures