Gender, Crime, and Desistance: Toward a Theory of Cognitive Transformation

his article analyzes data derived from the first detailed long-term follow-up of a sample of serious adolescent female delinquents and similarly situated males. Neither marital attachment nor job stability, factors frequently associated with male desistance from crime, were strongly related to female or male desistance. A symbolic-interactionist perspective on desistance is developed as a counterpoint to Sampson and Laub\u27s theory of informal social control, and life history narratives are used to illustrate the perspective. This cognitive theory is generally compatible with a control approach but (a) adds specificity regarding underlying change mechanisms, (b) explains some negative cases, and (c) fits well with life course challenges facing contemporary serious female (and more provisionally male) offenders

Les types de délinquantes : une étude longitudinale des causes et des conséquences

L’existence de différences sexuelles sur le plan du comportement antisocial est un fait largement répandu et accepté en criminologie, et ce, depuis la naissance de cette discipline. Bien que depuis une trentaine d’années les chercheurs se soient intéressés plus que jamais à la recherche théorique et empirique du comportement antisocial des femmes, force est de constater que les criminologues n’ont pas encore pleinement exploré la diversité des types de délinquance féminine. Notre examen des causes et des conséquences de la délinquance féminine s’appuie sur trois postulats de base : 1) la population délinquante est hétérogène 2) l’existence de types distincts de délinquantes est le produit de processus causaux qui sont à la fois communs et distincts et 3) les conséquences à long terme de la délinquance varient selon le type de délinquantes. Les données autorapportées ont été recueillies à partir d’un échantillon de répondantes interrogées en 1982, alors qu’elles étaient adolescentes, et subséquemment en 1992, alors qu’elles avaient atteint l’âge adulte. Nos analyses ont décelé des facteurs étiologiques uniques et communs à l’ensemble des types de délinquantes, ainsi que des événements de vie variant en fonction d’une diversité de dimensions comportementales, personnelles et interpersonnelles. Nos résultats font ressortir qu’une consommation de drogues durant l’adolescence a des effets particulièrement délétères chez les femmes lors du passage de l’adolescence à l’âge adulte.The gender difference in antisocial behaviour has been an accepted fact in criminology since the birth of the discipline. Although the past thirty years have seen more theorizing and research on antisocial behaviour among females than at any previous time, criminologists have yet to fully explore the diversity of types that make up the female offender population. Our examination of the causes and consequences of female offending begins with three basic assumptions: 1) a heterogeneity of types characterizes the offending population 2) distinct offender types are the product of both shared and unique causal processes and 3) the longterm consequences of offending vary among offender types. Self-report data were gathered from a sample of female respondents interviewed in 1982 when they were adolescents, and subsequently in 1992 when they were young adults. Our analyses identify both common and unique etiologies among several distinct types of offenders, as well as differential life course outcomes along a variety of behavioural, personal and interpersonal dimensions. Our findings are noteworthy in suggesting that adolescent drug use has particularly deleterious effects for females as they transition to young adulthood

Emotions and Crime over the Life Course: A Neo-Meadian Perspective on Criminal Continuity and Change

A symbolic interactionist perspective on the emotions is presented that highlights their social character, forges links to cognitive processes, and suggests ways in which emotions influence long-term patterns of criminal involvement. This neo-Meadian perspective contrasts with theories of desistance that focus on the role of informal social controls and develops the view of an emotional self that flourishes somewhat independent of the major role transitions typically emphasized in sociological studies of the life course. The authors also explore ways in which attention to the emotional realms of experience adds to traditional treatments of the impact of adult transition events ( e. g., the good marriage effect ). Interviews with male and female adolescent offenders and two waves of adult follow-u data document general patterns of association and support the argument that a social view of emotional processes is critical to a comprehensive understanding of life course patterns of criminal continuity and change

Goal setting and self-efficacy among delinquent, at-risk and not at-risk adolescents

Setting clear achievable goals that enhance self-efficacy and reputational status directs the energies of adolescents into socially conforming or non-conforming activities. This present study investigates the characteristics and relationships between goal setting and self-efficacy among a matched sample of 88 delinquent (18 % female), 97 at-risk (20 % female), and 95 not at-risk adolescents (20 % female). Four hypotheses related to this were tested. Findings revealed that delinquent adolescents reported fewest goals, set fewer challenging goals, had a lower commitment to their goals, and reported lower levels of academic and self-regulatory efficacy than those in the at-risk and not at-risk groups. Discriminant function analysis indicated that adolescents who reported high delinquency goals and low educational and interpersonal goals were likely to belong to the delinquent group, while adolescents who reported high educational and interpersonal goals and low delinquency goals were likely to belong to the not at-risk group. The at-risk and not at-risk groups could not be differentiated. A multinomial logistic regression also revealed that adolescents were more likely to belong to the delinquent group if they reported lower self-regulatory efficacy and lower goal commitment. These findings have important implications for the development of prevention and intervention programs, particularly for those on a trajectory to delinquency. Specifically, programs should focus on assisting adolescents to develop clear self-set achievable goals and support them through the process of attaining them, particularly if the trajectory towards delinquency is to be addressed

Adult child-parent bonds and life course criminality

Parents and parenting practices are often implicated as predictors of early childhood offending in criminological research, but little is known about the role of parents in adulthood in promoting or inhibiting criminal behavior. As juveniles mature into adult roles, parents also continue to mature and interact with their children in numerous roles throughout the life course. Unlike peers and romantic partners, parents are not easily discarded. Adults who have built a good foundation with their parents, then, possess additional social capital that has the potential to better adult life course outcomes, including criminal behavior. Social bonds formed within romantic relationships and stable employment have been the dominant factors identified within criminological literature in promoting criminal desistance, but in today's society with high rates of divorce and an unstable low-skilled job market, parents of origin may be an important stabilizing force in the lives of adults, particularly those lacking other conventional bonds. Using three waves of data from the Ohio Lifecourse Study, a project that spans some twenty-one years, the findings showed that strong relationships with parents are a significant predictor of criminal desistance for adult children, mainly through the emotional benefits these relationships have for the adult children. Furthermore, the data revealed that the adult child-parent relationship is a stronger predictor of desistance among the subjects with poor romantic relationship bonds. Implications for the life course theory are discussed.