Abstract
Life course theory (LCT) diagnoses childhood and adolescent factors that determine an individual’s involvement in crime in the future. Farrington lists eight key correlates identified by empirical analyses of criminal careers. In this paper, we seek to discuss the inconsistencies with LCT that we observed in our three empirical studies of the criminal careers of Polish offenders. During 12 years of qualitative research, we conducted direct observations and in-depth interviews in juvenile correction institutions (21) and prisons (8) across the country. We gained access to incarcerated (102) and released (30) juvenile offenders, as well as to incarcerated (68) and released (28) adult offenders. We also conducted in-depth interviews (92) with experts working with young and adult offenders. We similarly accessed some offenders’ criminal records and psychological opinions. Our study revealed the strong presence of family and neighborhood influences on early criminality. Contrary to LCT assumptions, state-dependent institutions (military, work, family) were not strong enough determinants of delinquency. Polish offenders generally experience criminal onset later than LCT-oriented criminologists indicate. Based on our data, we also agree with the thesis that the onset of crime should be discussed as different age-related periods rather than just a general onset.
Highlights
The dynamics of crime in individual biographies, which is at the core of the life course theory approach, has been a central focus of criminologists from the beginning of the discipline to the present day [1]
In most of the adult biographies we analyzed, criminal onset occurred at later stages, most often between the ages of 12 and 17 [28]; the juvenile offenders of both genders who participated in our study typically begun their criminal careers between the ages of 11 and 12
With increasing age and autonomy, the subjects were influenced by peers and, to a lesser extent, by relatives and neighbors
Summary
The dynamics of crime in individual biographies, which is at the core of the life course theory approach, has been a central focus of criminologists from the beginning of the discipline to the present day [1] (pp. 23–24).
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