DEVELOPMENTAL THEORIES

Developmental Theories

Developmental Theories

Introduction

Developmentally inclined criminologists take as their null hypothesis that antisocial behavior has to develop and is not simply the manifestation of some underlying or primordial condition. Rather than attribute career criminality to the pathologies of the individual, the developmental perspective points to life experiences that mold individuals and send them along trajectories or pathways. As the introductory vignette portrays, the circumstances of Darius's life seemed to cause his problems—and once these problems were initiated, they tended to snowball. As Daniel Nagin and Raymond Paternoster have suggested, the “observed correlation between past and future behavior is not based ...