A Narrative Format Of The Life Course Perspective

The way individuals learn to interact with society as children tends to predict how they will interact with society and respond to its environments as adults. There are social theories that help the understanding of why individuals choose deviant behaviors and how they progress through life. Social process theories view criminal and deviant criminal behaviors as evolving mechanisms learned through societal interaction. Social development theories view deviant and criminal behaviors as part of a maturation process. Social theories are conclusions that have come about based on the response of individuals to

An individual need to encounter it some place for them to have that attitude of a criminal. This can be gained from peers, parents, teachers neighbors, etc. According to the Social learning theory which is, "learning behavior that is controlled by environmental influences rather than by innate or internal forces" (Britannica Criminology 2017) has been connected to this program and is the motivation behind why pack savagery diminished. In this program, there are similarly invested individuals who endeavor to better their groups, encourage the instruction and unite individuals through positive neighborhood group events. The social learning hypothesis additionally suggests that youngsters who learn positive conduct will keep on becoming positive grown-ups. Indeed, even individuals who have had pessimistic inclinations can change their negative behavior patterns when they are encompassed around individuals with propensities that help better them. Aristotle once said, "Good habits formed at youth make all the difference". He believed that when you are growing up that is the most imperative time in someone's life due to the fact that the brain is learning new information rapidly. Children are also able to distinguish the difference in social class as well.

This paper analyzes and applies the social learning theory to Richard Ramirez a convicted serial killer. From exploring and understanding the social learning theory to giving a glimpse on Ramirez’s backstory and crimes. Beginning with early childhood that consists of his abusive father and personal head trauma. Thus, connecting social learning and other factors that lead to his heinous crimes. Middle childhood that includes his social interactions with his family members and the onset of his first crimes. Shortly, adolescence starts and stronger perverse emotions after hanging out and being influenced by his cousin Mike. Emerging adulthood and adulthood, Richard’s desire is thereon turned into actions that ultimately makes him the “Night Stalker”. Crimes such as burglary, rape, and murder that were learned from his social environment. Finally, a brief analysis on what was learned from the life span and applying the social learning theory to a serial killer Richard Ramirez.

The life course approach started in the 1960’s prior to this the life cycle approach was used which as Bengston et al (Reference) stated did not really consider the psychological or sociological aspects. The life cycle approach focused on life events that an individual was likely to go through such as marriage and child bearing, whilst the life cycle approach can offer some beneft to showing intergenerational patterns and it is useful to show the cycle of

Social learning and social control principles recognize that criminal careers may develop through criminogenic influences of individuals over the course of their lives (pg. 192). The concept of age definition recognizes that certain forms of behavior and some experiences are more appropriate in certain parts of the life cycle than in others. Theorist constantly search for continuity between children or adolescents and adult lifestyles. Researchers explore pathways to delinquency, antisocial behaviors, and trajectories and transitions (pg. 193). The life course also highlights the development of criminal careers through (1) activation, (2) aggravation,

Sampson and John H. Laub suggest the a person can outgrow their deviant or criminal behavior. Where as theorist Robert Agnew proposes the general strain theory, can determine delinquent or non-delinquent behavior. According to Sampson and Laub, age graded theory exists due to weak social bonds, insufficient parenting, and acquaintance with delinquent peers influence deviant or criminal behavior. Age-Graded Theory came about during a longitudinal study that followed 500 white delinquent male subjects paired with 500 white non-delinquent male subjects, all residing in Boston. Sampson and Laub applied the Glueck data to create their Age-Graded Theory. The study concluded in 1965, when the male subject’s average age was 32. According to the study, Sampson and Laub explained that individuals have the potential for change or continuance in the life of crime of the course of life. However, over the course of life, major events can happen that can alter one’s path. Sampson and Laub recognized three significant events that can alter the path of delinquency through life. Examples are, employment, marriage, and military enlistment.

The Life Course Theory is looking through health through a life course perspective. This theory addresses three key areas: your health as an individual, your health before your conception, and your children’s health. These don’t necessarily proceed in a given sequence but rather make up the person’s actual experience of these areas. The socioecological

Social learning theory explains that people learn criminal and delinquent behaviour the same way we learn behaviours that are considered socially acceptable (Maskaly 2015:207). Social learning theory consists of four concepts; differential associations, differential reinforcement, imitation and definitions (Maskaly 2015:207). This theory helps explain the police subculture, which teaches and reinforces the behaviour of police officers (Maskaly 2015:209). The concept of differential associations in social learning theory states that people are more likely to commit crimes if they regularly interact with other people who commit crimes (Maskaly 2015:208). The police subculture believes that police officers have a different standard of living compared

Rob Sampson and John Laub developed their age-graded, life-course theory of crime using some data studied by criminologists. In the 1940s, Sheldon and Eleanor Gluck conducted a longitudinal study of troubled boys in Boston and studied them through adolescence. Sampson and Laub found their data in the basement of the Harvard Library, reanalyzed it and identified turning points in a delinquent career. Sampson and Laub’s age-graded theory holds that the social sources of behavior change over the life course.They looked at the individual's childhood and their life into adulthood found out that some of the troubled boys stayed in trouble for the rest of their lives, while others had no legal problems.

Some of Alex's "droogs" and other acquaintances followed a different path than he did, but perhaps with certain similarities as well. How would life-course theory explain the various paths of these individuals? How would actions and behaviors define these individuals as criminal or not? Reflect on the entire book. Were there any life-course offenders? What about adolescent-limited offenders? What controls were in place, or not in place, to allow for those individuals to act as they did?

Dr. Glen Elder, the major contributor to the life course approach, developed the core principles of the theory after analyzing the data from his “Children of the Great Depression”

The core of the paper will elaborate on the "life-course" perspective and how it has been applied in several diverse ways to crime in particular and human behavior and the biosocial aspects more broadly. The basic contention of life-course studies is that any effort to make sense of individual behavior should be informed by knowledge of how lives and societal change are reciprocally linked; and how early events and influences persist and fade across the life course. Life-course approaches to understanding social phenomena share a conceptual framework that focuses on pathways or trajectories across the life span and the transitions that people make as they shift from one social role to the next over time.

This study is to examine the impact of offenders under the ages of 18 becoming incarcerated in United States. In society today there a lot of young children of all races incarcerated throughout America. All around the world there are different classes of people that form a community. Within these communities, population grows and grows on a yearly basis. When looking at the topic of youth offenders, this issue I believe is a direct result of social placement. The environment that a child is brought up in will eventually dictate their path in life. A child that grows up in a household with both parents has a better chance to be successful. This single way of thinking can easily be altered, clearly depending on the child.

When looking into analyzing crime we tend to focus on the current events that lead to the crime being committed. When looking at an individual who stole a supermarket, one can conclude that the robber was in need of fast income at the moment and thus decided to steal. If a person kills another it is because they were threatened or their life was in danger. These examples show that the person doing the action did so because at the time they needed a fast response, which then leads analyzers and investigators to see the events that lead to the crime. This retracing of events does not expand far, mostly resulting in a few days prior to the crime. Life-course theory suggests criminologists should also focus on the events that lead towards the crime, not just analyze the days prior, but from

This methodology encompasses examining the child’s life through many different contexts, such as: demography, history, sociology, biology, developmental psychology, and economics. ( w. website ) The Life Course Perspective takes the combination of the historical and social factors and sees them in an individual’s course of personal development. A life course is defined as a sequence of socially defined events and roles that the individual enacts over time. ( W. website ) The theory loosely follows the sage old adage, “To know where you’re going, you have to know where you have been.” More precisely, the theory explains that the roles, events or transitions in an individual’s life don’t naturally progress in a structures order, but instead but create the sum of one’s life experience. (website) Transitions play an important role in the life experience.