SOC357H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Skill, American Sociological Review, Bsc Young Boys
Document Summary
We have seen that most crime peaks in youth and then drops off. They propose a life course analysis approach to explaining these patterns. Last week we considered crime rates by age groups. These are averages for different kinds of life course trajectories. Moffit argues that pattern four is characteristic of people who suffered neurological damage early in life, and who are unable to benefit from opportunities to go straight. People who are persistently criminal because something went wrong in the wiring in their brains just cannot succeed in a conventional life and cannot sop engaging in crime. Laub and sampson ask what makes the difference between groups 2 and 3. In their own research, they (like elder) took advantage of a classic study of young boys by following them up in later life. Crime rates decline for every group in old age: even for people who were at high risk of crime at younger ages.
