Juvenile Delinquency: Two Types of Criminal Careers
Summary
TLDRIn this video, Margot from Criminology Web discusses juvenile delinquency and psychologist Terry Moffitt's theory on two types of juvenile offenders. The first type, life-course persistent offenders, begin exhibiting problem behaviors early in life and continue into adulthood. The second type, adolescent-limited offenders, engage in delinquent behaviors only during their teenage years, driven by the 'maturity gap' where they seek independence. Moffitt's model highlights the differences in causes and patterns of delinquency between these groups. For more criminology insights, viewers are encouraged to subscribe to the channel or visit Criminology Web.
Takeaways
- đ Juvenile delinquency typically peaks during adolescence and early adulthood, with crime rates decreasing as individuals age.
- đ€ The majority of offenders are part of the 'adolescent-limited' group, committing crimes only during their teenage years before maturing out of it.
- đ Psychologist Terry Moffitt's research differentiates two types of juvenile offenders: 'life-course-persistent' and 'adolescent-limited' offenders.
- đ Life-course-persistent offenders start showing problem behaviors early in life and continue offending well into adulthood, representing less than 10% of the youth population.
- đ Adolescent-limited offenders are a larger group whose criminal behavior is temporary, ceasing as they mature and age.
- 𧏠Life-course-persistent offenders may have genetic or neurological deficits and often come from difficult home environments.
- đ± The adolescent-limited group's delinquency is attributed to a 'maturity gap,' where biological maturity precedes societal independence and decision-making abilities.
- đ Adolescent-limited offenders often come from non-problematic backgrounds, with their delinquency considered almost normative due to the challenges of teenage years.
- đĄ The causes of delinquency differ significantly between the two groups, with life-course-persistent offenders having a higher risk due to various factors.
- đŻ Moffitt's model highlights the diversity in the development of criminal behavior among youth, challenging the notion that all offenders follow the same trajectory.
- đ The graph presented in the video illustrates the typical life-course of criminal behavior, showing a sharp increase during teenage years and a decrease in early adulthood.
Q & A
What is the main topic of the video by Margot from criminology, web.com?
-The main topic of the video is juvenile delinquency and the different types of juvenile offenders.
What is the general pattern of crime among offenders as they age?
-Generally, most offenders commit their crimes when they are adolescents or young adults, and as they get older, they tend to settle down and commit fewer crimes.
What does the graph in the video represent?
-The graph represents the development of violence over the life course, showing the number of crimes for three types of crimes (murder, non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, and robbery) plotted against age.
At what age does the crime rate typically peak according to the graph?
-The crime rate typically peaks somewhere around age 17 or 18.
What are the two groups of juvenile offenders identified by psychologist Terry Moffatt?
-The two groups of juvenile offenders identified by Terry Moffatt are life course persistent offenders and adolescent-limited offenders.
What distinguishes the life course persistent offenders from the adolescent-limited offenders?
-Life course persistent offenders start showing problem behavior early in life and continue well into adulthood, whereas adolescent-limited offenders commit crimes only during their teenage years and stop as they get older.
What percentage of adolescents are considered life course persistent offenders according to Moffatt's research?
-According to Moffatt's research, life course persistent offenders make up less than 10% of adolescents.
What are some possible causes of delinquency for life course persistent offenders?
-Possible causes for life course persistent offenders may include genetic or neurological deficits, or coming from a difficult home environment with problematic backgrounds.
What is the 'maturity gap' and how does it relate to adolescent-limited offenders?
-The 'maturity gap' refers to the disparity between biological maturity and the social restrictions placed on teenagers, which can lead them to commit crimes as a form of asserting personal independence and seeking new challenges.
How does Moffatt's model differ from the average person's pattern of crime?
-Moffatt's model shows that while most youth commit crimes only during their teenage years and not thereafter, there is a small group of people (life course persistent offenders) who start showing problem behavior in childhood and continue well into adulthood.
What is the recommendation for those interested in more criminology and criminal justice content?
-The recommendation for those interested in more content is to subscribe to the channel and turn on the alarm bell, or visit criminology web.com for new posts every week.
Outlines
đźââïž Juvenile Delinquency and Offender Types
This paragraph introduces the topic of juvenile delinquency, highlighting the typical age at which most individuals begin and cease criminal behavior. It presents the idea by psychologist Terry Moffatt, who differentiates between two types of juvenile offenders: life course persistent offenders, who start early and continue into adulthood, and adolescent-limited offenders, whose criminal activity is temporary and ceases with age. The paragraph also includes a graph illustrating the typical rise and fall of crime rates across different age groups, emphasizing the peak in late adolescence and early adulthood.
đ Moffatt's Trajectory Theory on Juvenile Offending
This paragraph delves deeper into Moffatt's theory, explaining the distinct trajectories of juvenile offending. It contrasts the life course persistent offenders, who are a small percentage but have long-lasting criminal careers due to potential genetic or environmental factors, with the adolescent-limited offenders, who are a larger group whose criminality is seen as almost normative due to the 'maturity gap'. This gap refers to the discrepancy between biological maturity and societal restrictions, leading to a desire for independence and risk-taking behaviors. The paragraph concludes by emphasizing the differences between these two groups and invites viewers to subscribe for more content on criminology.
Mindmap
Keywords
đĄJuvenile Delinquency
đĄCriminology
đĄOffenders
đĄAdolescence
đĄLife Course Persistent Offender
đĄAdolescence-Limited Offender
đĄTrajectories
đĄMaturity Gap
đĄGenetic or Neurological Deficits
đĄProblematic Backgrounds
đĄIndependence
Highlights
Video discusses juvenile delinquency and different types of juvenile offenders.
Most offenders commit crimes as adolescents or young adults, with crime rates peaking around age 17-18.
Not all offenders follow the pattern of committing less crime as they age.
Psychologist Terry Moffitt proposed two types of juvenile offenders based on their development of violence over the life course.
Graph shows crime rates increasing dramatically in teenage years and peaking around age 18 before sharply decreasing.
The bulk of crime occurs in late adolescence and early adulthood.
There are differences between individuals in their criminal behavior patterns.
Terry Moffitt's research identified two groups of juvenile offenders: life-course persistent and adolescent-limited.
Life-course persistent offenders start showing problem behavior early in life and continue into adulthood, making up less than 10% of adolescents.
Adolescent-limited offenders commit crimes only during their teenage years before stopping as they get older, representing a larger group.
Causes of delinquency differ between the two groups, with life-course persistent offenders having genetic, neurological, or environmental factors.
Adolescent-limited offenders do not come from problematic backgrounds; their delinquency is considered almost normative due to the maturity gap.
The maturity gap refers to the discrepancy between biological maturity and social restrictions faced by teenagers.
Teenagers may engage in delinquent behavior as a way to assert independence and challenge restrictions.
Moffitt's model shows differences in criminal behavior among individuals, with most youth committing crimes only during their teenage years.
A small group of individuals, life-course persistent offenders, show problem behavior from childhood and continue into adulthood.
The video encourages viewers to subscribe for more criminology and criminal justice content and to visit criminologyweb.com for weekly posts.
Transcripts
hello this is Margot from criminology
web.com and in this video I'll talk
about juvenile delinquency and how there
are different types of juvenile
offenders in general most offenders
commit their crimes when they are
adolescents or young adults as offenders
get older they often settle down and
commit less crime but this is not the
case for all offenders some offenders
start to commit less crime when they get
older but others do not and in this
video I'll explain the idea proposed by
psychologist Terry Moffatt about how
there are two different types of
juvenile offenders here is what the
development of violence over the life
course usually looks like this is a
graph for the United States but it's
widely applicable what you can see here
is a graph of three crime types murder
and non-negligent manslaughter which is
a darker line forcible rape which is the
dashed line with the squares and robbery
which is the dashed line with the
triangles on the y-axis that is the
vertical axis you can see the number of
crimes and then on the x-axis that is
the horizontal axis you can see age
going from about ten to over sixty years
old as you can see for all three crime
types crime increases dramatically in
the teenage years then it Peaks
somewhere around age 17 or 18 and then
there's another dramatic change when it
decreases sharply so as you can see the
bulk of crime occurs in late adolescence
and in early adulthood now this is what
is the case for the average person but
not everybody is average of course there
are differences between people with some
people showing this exact pattern that
you see here and other people not
showing this pattern and it would be
really interesting of course to see
which different patterns exist and
exactly those different patterns were
teased out in one of the really
influential pieces of research that has
been done in this area which was done by
cycle psychologist Terry Moffatt in that
study she looked at the different paths
ways or criminal careers as they are
also called of youth offenders and that
when they got into crime and when they
stopped
according to Moffitt there are basically
two groups of teenager fenders or two
types of what is called trajectories the
first group is that of the so-called
life course persistent offender this
trajectory starts early in life these
children start to show problem behavior
early on and as you can see in this
graph Moffitt proposed that this is only
a small group of adolescents who show
this type of behavior it's less than 10%
but their criminal career is very
lengthy and consistent and continues
well into adulthood
the second group Moffitt calls
adolescents limited offenders these
youth offend only in their teenage years
so their involvement in crime is only
temporary and once they get older they
stop offending this is a much larger
group of youth so many more youth belong
to this group of the adolescents limited
offenders then to the other group but
they commit offenses for a much shorter
time period what's interesting is that
according to Moffitt the causes for
delinquency are different between these
two groups so for the life course
persistent versus the adolescent limited
offenders the life course persistent
offenders may have for example genetic
or neurological deficits or they may
come from a difficult home environment
they come from problematic backgrounds
and have certain characteristics that
make their risk of offending very high
on the other hand according to Moffitt
the adolescents limited offenders do not
really come from a problematic
background instead so many youth commit
delinquency in their teenage years that
she considers it almost normative the
causes of delinquency for this group are
very different these kids are suffering
suffering from what is called the
maturity gap meaning these youths are
biologically mature their bodies are
almost like an adult body but they're
not allowed to do what adults do they're
not allowed to work to drive a car to
marry or to buy alcohol they're
basically dependent on their parents and
family and they can't make many
decisions for themselves but they want
to make their own decisions and so they
may start to steal the things there that
they're not allowed to have and take
risks and do things that their parents
would never allow them to do and so they
look for new challenges to prove that
they are more than capable of conquering
them in this sense every time a youth
does something that adults may think of
as bad for them it is a statement of
personal independence so even though
crime Peaks in the teenage years for the
average person Moffett's model shows
that there are differences between
people whereas for most youth crime is
something that occurs only in the
teenage years and not thereafter this is
the adolescents limited group of
offenders there is a small group of
people who start to show problem
behavior already in childhood and for
whom it continues well into adulthood
and this group is called the life course
persistent offenders for more
fascinating criminology and criminal
justice stuff subscribe to this channel
and turn on the alarm bell or go to
criminology web.com and find new posts
there every week
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