NCJ Number
144629
Journal
Criminology Volume: 31 Issue: 3 Dated: (August 1993) Pages: 301-326
Date Published
1993
Length
26 pages
Annotation
This article examines the dynamics of continuity and change in criminal activity over the course of a lifetime.
Abstract
The authors have adopted a nontraditional approach to criminology that focuses on individuals rather than variables. Their primary source of data was a study of 1,000 men (500 delinquent and 500 nondelinquent) initiated by two other researchers in 1940. Although the authors acknowledge that early childhood experience determines whether an individual participates in crime or not, they also stress that changes in adult social bonds, both incremental and abrupt, are important factors. However, unlike many others who have presented life-course models to explain criminality, they emphasize the quality and strength of social ties rather than the timing of discrete transitional events. For example, employment does not automatically reduce a proclivity towards crime, but commitment to work, job stability, and bonding among workers and employers are factors that contribute to social control. These and other adult social bonding factors play a crucial role in an individual's adaptation to change. The text includes several case summaries. 6 footnotes and 73 references