Deck 10: The Life Course

Question 1

The typical pattern of offending for a life-course persistent offender is:

A) the individual engages in high rates of minor offending during adolescence and violent offending during adulthood
B) the individual engages in high rates of serious offending during adolescence and minor offending during adulthood
C) the individual engages in high rates of minor and serious offending during adolescence and adulthood
D) the individual engages in high rates of offending during adolescence and lower rates upon reaching adulthood

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Self-report surveys estimate that __________ of all adolescents engage in some type of delinquency.

A) 10%
B) 50%
C) 75%
D) 90%
E) 100%

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Adolescence-limited offenders tend to engage in offenses such as:

A) burglary
B) larceny-theft
C) motor-vehicle theft
D) fraud
E) aggravated assault

Answer 3

B

Question 4

According to Agnew and Brezina, there is less direct control during adolescence because:

A) adolescents attend larger schools with larger classes
B) adolescents find more "creative" ways to cut classes
C) adolescents participate in a greater number of athletic and other extracurricular activities
D) all of the above

Question 5

Which of the following theories best explains the delinquency of adolescents who are restricted in their activities and break curfew as a means of obtaining adult privileges?

A) strain
B) social learning
C) control
D) labeling

Question 6

Agnew and Brezina provide which of the following reasons to explain why a small percentage of juveniles refrain from delinquency?

A) they possess strong moral beliefs about delinquency
B) they experience delayed puberty
C) they have strong ties to their parents and teachers
D) all of the above

Question 7

Individuals are more likely to develop traits conducive to crime when parents:

A) coddle and "spoil" their infant and toddler children
B) use physical punishment (e.g., spanking)
C) provide more rewards than punishments on a regular basis
D) fail to effectively sanction their children's angry outbursts

Question 8

Poor parenting can be caused by:

A) poverty
B) individual traits of the parents
C) individual traits of the children
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 9

Life-course persistent offenders continue offending at high rates well into adulthood because:

A) their moral development is stalled
B) they avoid the help and guidance religion can provide
C) traits conducive to crime persist over time
D) their attraction to media violence reinforces their violent tendencies
E) all of the above

Question 10

Unlike life-course persistent offenders, adolescence-limited offenders stop offending when they become adults because their offending is rooted in ___________________ associated with adolescence.

A) biological and social changes
B) only social changes
C) only biological changes
D) individual traits

Question 11

Juveniles who experience individual traits conducive to crime (e.g., irritability and low self-control) and poor parenting:

A) almost always become life-course persistent offenders
B) are at greater risk of becoming life-course persistent offenders
C) rarely become life-course persistent offenders
D) almost always become adolescence-limited offenders
E) are at greater risk of becoming adolescence-limited offenders

Question 12

Life-course persistent offenders make up:

A) 1% to 3% of the total population
B) 4% to 10% of the total population
C) 55% to 60% of the total population
D) 90% of the total population

Question 13

In general, individuals experience ____________ control when they leave adolescence and enter adulthood.

A) direct
B) indirect
C) an increase in
D) a decrease in

Question 14

Adolescents are subject to less direct control than:

A) infants
B) toddlers
C) adults
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 15

Agnew and Brezina point out that certain biological factors increase the likelihood of developing traits conducive to crime. Some of these traits include:

A) traits inherited from parents
B) birth complications
C) exposure to lead
D) all of the above

Question 16

Which of the following statements is TRUE regarding life-course persistent offending?

A) Life-course persistent offending is rooted in biological and social changes associated with adolescence.
B) Life-course persistent offending is rooted in ongoing problems that originate during the childhood years.
C) Life-course persistent offenders find it easier to desist from crime compared with adolescence-limited offenders.
D) all of the above

Question 17

What portion of adolescents' brains, involved in the control of emotions, is not fully developed during adolescence?

A) Temporal lobe
B) Prefrontal cortex
C) Cerebellum
D) Occipital lobe

Question 18

About _______ of adolescents manage to refrain from delinquency.

A) 5%-10%
B) 20%-25%
C) 50%-55%
D) 88%-90%

Question 19

Traits and poor parenting experiences also contribute to high rates of offending over the life course because they lead to:

A) school and peer problems
B) marital and work problems
C) all of the above
D) none of the above

Question 20

Some studies examining the predictors of desistance among female offenders find:

A) marriage promotes desistance among males but not females
B) marriage promotes desistance among females but not males
C) marriage promotes desistance among females and males
D) marriage has no effect on desistance from crime

Question 21

Look over the list of privileges and responsibilities extended to adolescents. Do these "ring true" in your personal experiences? What privileges or responsibilities would you add to the list?

Question 22

Describe the biological and social changes that occur during adolescence. Explain how these changes increase the likelihood of delinquency.

Question 23

The transition from childhood to adulthood is fraught with contradictions in terms of privileges and responsibilities. Provide three examples that effectively illustrate the contradictions that adolescents often experience.

Question 24

Indicate how a control theorist would explain the effect that social changes during adolescence have on delinquency.

Question 25

Adolescents are more likely to associate with delinquent peers than are children and adults. Explain why this association occurs during adolescence and how it affects delinquent offending according to social learning theory.

Question 26

Use strain and control theories to argue that peer abuse increases delinquency more during adolescence than it does during childhood.

Question 27

Think about and write down the various ways you dealt with strains during high school. For each, indicate what type of coping was used and whether or not it was legal. Draw on discussion in the text to discuss why you were more likely to respond to strain with legal or with illegal coping responses during adolescence.

Question 28

Explain why adolescents have fewer legal coping skills and resources than do adults.

Question 29

What is the prevalence of life-course persistent offenders in the population?

Question 30

Draw on discussion in the text about adolescence-limited offending to explain why a small percentage of adolescents refrain from delinquency.

Question 31

Examine the relationship between individual traits and delinquency. In your answer identify the types of traits conducive to crime, indicate when these traits develop and how long they last, and discuss the likely causes of these traits.

Question 32

Discuss factors that can cause poor parenting.

Question 33

Agnew and Brezina state, "Having kids who are irritable and low in self-control is a major cause of poor parenting, and poor parenting is a major cause of irritability and low self-control." Explain this statement and describe an intervention that might break the cycle.

Question 34

Explain the relationship between poor parenting and delinquency using control and social learning theories of crime.

Question 35

Describe how individual traits and poor parenting lead to a variety of problems that persist over time and increase the likelihood for delinquent and criminal behaviors.

Question 36

Design two interventions aimed at helping to reduce life-course persistent offenders' involvement in crime. Each intervention should address a different level of intervention (i.e., individual, family, community, and societal).

Question 37

Explaining life-course patterns of offending involves the use of an integrated theory. This integrated theory can be viewed as an elaboration of which three theories? Explain how these theories integrate to form the life-course perspective and how they explain adolescent offending.

Question 38

Briefly describe why life-course persistent offenders offend at high rates over the life course.

Question 39

According to Laub and Sampson (1993), certain life changes can prove to be crucial turning points in the lives of young male desisters. Why is this? Provide some examples of important life changes that contribute to desistance from crime for both males and females.

Question 40

Agnew and Brezina point out that individuals experience an increase in control when they leave adolescence and enter adulthood. How does entering adulthood contribute to their stake in conformity? Does this encourage further delinquency or desistance from crime? Why?

Question 41

How do certain cultural expectations encourage the development of maturity and desistance from crime? Provide examples of such cultural expectations that you have experienced in your own culture.