CRJU 591C Study Guide - Final Guide: Peer Pressure, Psychological Review, Social Change
5 Jul 2018
Department
Course
Professor
RIZZO, M 1
Deviance in society is becoming a natural aspect of growing up. As people develop they
test the limits that are available to them. Rules are made clear, but people start to think of
innovative ways to get around them. To deter this kind of behavior we classify things as crimes.
Most people that engage in crime aren’t career criminals in that their behavior lasts a lifetime,
but typically adolescent limited offenders who are testing the waters at youth and eventually lead
a nonoffending lifestyle (Moffit, 1993). Finding what makes someone become a career criminal,
an adolescent limited, or a non-offender is a high interest of studies because if this information is
found then there could be implications for ways to prevent certain outcomes. Only 6% of the
population are classified as chronic offenders. These 6% make up over half of the crime
committed across the country (Benson, 2013). Being that there are so few career criminals it is
hard to find individuals that fall in this category, so it is useful to not only attempt to study these
individuals but the majority as well. Most criminologists agree that individuals are set on a
criminal trajectory after their childhood. This argument comes into place about whether they can
change this trajectory once it has been set. This debate is referred to as the Continuity vs.
Continuity and Change theory. These theories are essentially attempting to measure whether
people are biologically disposed to committing crime and we are predestined or can our
environment influence change in trajectories (Caspi, 1990). By performing a retrospective case
study, I hope to discover evidence of continuity and change theory demonstrated by the lifestyle
of an individual. Being that chronic offenders are so infrequent I wanted to interview an
individual who engages in more common criminal activities and deviant behaviors.
With respects to confidentiality the individual’s name in this case study has been
changed. I will call her Rebecca for our purposes. Rebecca is a twenty-year-old female finishing
up her junior year at college. Growing up she endured strict parenting that encouraged positive
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
RIZZO, M 2
behavior such as limitations on television use, a healthy diet, regular chores and attending church
every Sunday. She grew up with her younger sister and looked up to her older half-brother. Her
relationship with her parents was healthy in that there was a good flow of communication and
her parents were nurturing and caring. Yet at a young age she started acting out. Her first offense
was as a juvenile when she shoplifted from a store. This incident was an important factor in
shaping Rebecca’s trajectory. A strong parenting style and negative reinforcement was used to
deter Rebecca from continuation in offending and made her remorseful for her actions. This lead
to a nearly nine-year period of non-offending in this individual’s trajectory. During this time, she
developed a strong sense of self being through engagement in school, extracurriculars, and
positive relationships.
At age sixteen she started to engage in minor offense such as underage drinking and
marijuana use. As she had grown up she had a developed a strong belief in not using drugs, but
as time went on her belief diminished. “The more I was around it the more that I was interested
and thought everyone was right” (April 16, 2018). With college approaching she figured that she
would be exposed to the drug a lot and so after doing her own research on marijuana effects, she
decided to try it for herself. Towards age seventeen she started engaging in excessive underage
drinking as she went off to college. These minor offenses stemmed to more serious offenses
when Rebecca obtained a fake ID to continue her habits. The using of this ID got her into bars
and places where she not only illegally bought and consumed alcohol, but did so using fake
identification information. Some of these situations of intoxication lead her to incidents where
she was intoxicated and drove home. The use of a fake ID and excessive underage drinking
became a regular offending behavior in that there was never any deterrence against it. Only now
that she has approached her junior year have these offenses started to slow down. When Rebecca
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
RIZZO, M 3
turns twenty-one and drinking becomes legal her offending pattern will most likely continue to
decrease in that she is no longer engaging in behavior that is considered illegal. With alcohol no
longer being unattainable for her then she will also stop using a false identification method.
Based off her past trajectory I think that as she graduates from college and enters a professional
career in education she will continue to decrease her offending behaviors.
An offense that is often overlooked in the criminal justice system is speeding and reckless
driving. However, they have serious risks and effects on an individual’s record. Rebecca started
these kind of driving habits when she first started driving on her own at age seventeen. Without
her parents or other mentoring figures present she is free to make her own decisions on how to
operate her vehicle. This has led to some situations where she has gotten pulled over for
speeding. She has been pulled over three separate occasions for this offense and was given a
ticket for one of the occurrences. This is one of the only deterrence’s by law enforcement that
Rebecca has ever experienced. While commonly overlooked as a form of criminal behavior it is
the part of the criminal justice system that most people have an interaction with.
A point of stability can be due to major turning points or social changes, but can
sometimes just be a simple moment in an individuals’ life. In Rebecca’s case her point of
stability was reached in her later college years. Her desistance didn’t start to occur based off a
significant turning point, but from social bonds. Social Bond Theory is a typical explanation for
why individuals don’t engage in crime. This is explained by the fact that individuals have strong
senses of attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief (Hirschi, 1990). With commitments
to jobs and school Rebecca hasn’t had time to engage in as much deviant behavior. Starting
junior year, she got a part time job and her course work started to become heavier. Keeping her
attached to something and involved makes her avoid possible places or activities that might
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Deviance in society is becoming a natural aspect of growing up. As people develop they test the limits that are available to them. Rules are made clear, but people start to think of innovative ways to get around them. To deter this kind of behavior we classify things as crimes. Most people that engage in crime aren"t career criminals in that their behavior lasts a lifetime, but typically adolescent limited offenders who are testing the waters at youth and eventually lead a nonoffending lifestyle (moffit, 1993). Finding what makes someone become a career criminal, an adolescent limited, or a non-offender is a high interest of studies because if this information is found then there could be implications for ways to prevent certain outcomes. Only 6% of the population are classified as chronic offenders. These 6% make up over half of the crime committed across the country (benson, 2013).
