Pathways in the Life Course to Crime Theory

Pathways in the Life Course to Crime Theory

Introduction

There are a number of crime theories that have been developed. There are various criminals due to which a number of criminal activities have been formulated. In this paper we will talk about the criminal theory that has been developed by Terrie Moffitt. She was a college professor and this theory of hers is one of the most unique theories that have been ever developed related to criminology. There aspects presented by Moffitt in her theory are completely different and identify very unusual reasons for the criminal activities. This paper will discuss the main elements of this theory.

Discussion

According to Moffitt, there are two different types of criminals. The first ones are the adolescent-limited offenders and the other is the life-course-persistent offenders. The adolescent life offenders are the ones who have an antisocial personality disorder. They are the ones who are recognized by the DSM-IV and it is a disorder that disregards the rights of others. The first aspect of this disorder is the age and the antisocial personality disorder (Moffitt, 1993).

This aspect defines that the people who are in their adolescence commit such activities because they do not accept the social behavior and since a very young age they have a very negative concept of the society. This concept leads them to such behavior and they make sure that they commit such criminal crimes that cause them harm and does they do not care about the society or the impact their criminal activity will have on them or the society. This is the reason that the main idea of this theory is 'criminals are born, not made.'

The second aspect of this disorder is the continuity and stability of antisocial behavior. The adolescent criminals do not care ...