ISS 215 Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Homicide, Menarche, Puberty
17 Oct 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Racial & Ethnic Group Achievement
Review
“Harsh environments”:
● Marital discord, parental abuse, divorce, uncertain economic resources
● Especially important: parental (and paternal) absence and inconsistent parenting
○ Homes with absent fathers tend to have unstable social relations
Life History Theory: Harsh Environments and Puberty
Belsky & colleagues (1991, 2012)
● Girls raised in harsh environments (especially households with inconsistent fathers):
○ Experience menarche (menstruation) at earlier age on average (in comparison to
girls raised in more stable environments)
○ Develop more quickly than peers
○ Engage in first sexual activity at earlier age
○ Have more sexual partners throughout life
○ Greater number of short-term relationships
○ Have more offspring
● Early instability of home life increases likelihood of early and frequent reproduction
○ Next question is… does this matter for economic, educational, criminal
outcomes?
Life History and Male Violence
● Men face greater mortality concerns (earlier death, more likely death due to violence)
● Strong and consistent sex difference
○ Men discount the future more steeply than woman; taking a faster life strategy
than women
Homicide:
○ Killing someone decreases your chances of success in life
○ Killing someone is self-control failure
■ Typically (in the US): male perpetrator - male victim
● Unrelated (genetically) (but know each other)
● Transparently competitive
○ Status [social resource] or robberies [material resource]
○ (escalating conflict)
○ High risk - High reward situation
○ Predictions:
■ Homicide should be higher among men than women (faster life strategies
■ Higher for men who have shorter life expectancies
● The homicide rate is higher at a shorter life expectancy and lower
at a higher life expectancy (Chicago Neighborhoods, Wilson &
Daly (1997))
■ Higher for men with less to lose (/live for)
Document Summary
Marital discord, parental abuse, divorce, uncertain economic resources. Especially important: parental (and paternal) absence and inconsistent parenting. Homes with absent fathers tend to have unstable social relations. Girls raised in harsh environments (especially households with inconsistent fathers): Experience menarche (menstruation) at earlier age on average (in comparison to girls raised in more stable environments) Engage in first sexual activity at earlier age. Early instability of home life increases likelihood of early and frequent reproduction. Men face greater mortality concerns (earlier death, more likely death due to violence) Men discount the future more steeply than woman; taking a faster life strategy than women. Killing someone decreases your chances of success in life. Typically (in the us): male perpetrator - male victim. Status [social resource] or robberies [material resource] High risk - high reward situation (escalating conflict) Homicide should be higher among men than women (faster life strategies. Higher for men who have shorter life expectancies.
