Summary readings CBDL
Week 1 Introduction: crime over the life course
Elder 2003 Emergence and development of life course theory
Intro - Life course perspective in sociological research evolved
- Historical neglect of individuals’ life histories
- Use life record data longitudinal approach to life history
- Mills studied biographies, history and social structure
intersections social pathways of individuals’ lives were not
common study subject
- Societal events in the past led to neglect of life histories
- Thomas’s recommendations to look at life histories recognized
from 1960s on emergence of life course perspective
- Life course: theoretical orientation,
Focused on age-graded patterns in social institutions
History’s impact on human development and aging
The contextual challenge - During 1950s, sociological theory and research became stagnant
and abstract
Focus was on grand theory
Social surveys were shallow and rapidly diffused
- Shift occurred led to inquiry into continuity and change of
human lives concerning interpersonal, structural, and historical
forces
- Shift attributed to:
1. Maturation of early child development samples
2. Rapidity of social change (post-war era)
3. Changes in composition of populations of countries
4. Changing age structure of society
5. Growth of longitudinal research
- More longitudinal studies conducted, though focussed on
childhood development, later focussed on adulthood led to
study of life trajectories across multiple stages
- Social changes during 20th century (Great Depression, World
Wars, cultural movements) impacted individual life trajectories
- Growing interest in studying individual lives and connection to
social change
- Changing demographics study diversity on social and
individual level (race, ethnicity, gender, urban vs rural
backgrounds)
- Longitudinal research, next to innovations like prospective and
retrospective data collection, advanced human lives study
- Mixed method approach: include quanti and quali data of macro
structures and individual experiences
Responses to the - Needed conceptual and methodological tools to study life
challenge patterns and temporal dynamics
It was recognized that changing circumstances in life were
linked to individuals lives
, - Life course concept: theoretical orientation to understand social
pathways, their developmental effects, their relation to personal
and social-historical conditions
- Early models of social pathways: focus on single role sequences,
like life cycle stages of maturation, marriage, family growth
(limitations in applicability and context)
- Career models linked roles across life course (education, work,
family)
- Historically based studies important: context into focus
understand lives in relation to social change
- Barker: research in rural Kansas: age-specialization in behaviour
settings involvement in community settings influences
development
- Concepts developed to reflect how lives socially organized,
shaped by history
Social pathways
Trajectories
Transitions
Turning points
- Concepts point out temporal nature of lives and role of age
understand changing context of experiencesF
Age, timing, and the life - Time crucial factor to understand human lives, operates at
course sociohistorical and personal level
- Early studies used concept of generation in models this
viewed individual lives in terms of reproductive life cycle and
intergenerational processes of socialization
Proved inadequate: loose connection to historical time
- Cohorts, defined by birth year: precise way to link age and
historical time historical changes affect different age groups
differently
- Historical influences can happen as:
1. Cohort effects: change affects specific birth cohorts
2. Period effects: change impacts multiple cohorts uniformly
- Understanding historical influence:
Examine variations in age-related changes across birth
cohorts
Measure exposure to changing environments within cohorts
- Example: paths of a generation (study in SU) regional and
individual differences within cohorts shape life trajectories
Disintegration of SU led to a cohort that developed
differently per region (Belarus different from Estonia)
- Within cohort variation: one cohort during Great Depression,
boys and girls. Girls drawn into domestic responsibilities, boys
had to work later, women more family-focussed, boys
attached to work and career
- Age as social construct structures life course through:
Age expectations: societal or cultural norms and beliefs
, about when life events or transitions are appropriate or
expected, based on age
Social timetables: culturally defined schedules for when is
what supposed to happen sequence of life events that
person is expected to follow
Generalized age grades: social categories associated with
age ranges age range characterized by certain roles,
responsibilities and social statuses (childhood, adolescence,
adulthood, old age)
- Timing of life transitions and duration of states in life course are
critical considerations
Timing impacts success or failure
Duration affects behavioural continuity and embeddedness
in social environment
Paradigmatic principles in Five principles
life course theory 1. Life-span development: human development and aging are
lifelong processes
2. Agency: ppl construct own life course through choices and
actions they make within opportunities and constraints of
history and social circumstances
3. Time and place: life course of individuals embedded and shaped
by historical times and places they experience over their lifetime
4. Timing: developmental antecedents and consequences of life
transitions, events and behavioural patterns vary according to
their timing
5. Linked lives: lives lived interdependently, socio-historical
influences expressed through this network of shared
relationships
Life-span development
- Human development not confined to certain age grade
continues throughout life
- Adults can experience changes in life aspects like work
orientations and social integration
- Longitudinal studies: explore interplay of social change with
individual development
Agency
- Individuals are active recipients of social influences
- Choose and compromise based on perceived alternatives
- Example: parents manage environment to minimise risk for child
- Individual choices and behaviours impact future trajectories
(although influenced by contextual constraints)
Time and place
- Individuals and birth cohorts influenced by historical context
and geographic location
- Events affect different cohorts and regions differently impact
of event may differ per place and nation
- Impact individuals based on context
, Timing
- Timing of life events and transitions impact individuals’
development
- Early transitions to adult status like leaving home or becoming
parent affects mental health detrimentally
- Social and developmental implications of timing explain why
different birth cohorts affected differently by events like Great
Depression or World War II
Linked lives
- Human lives are interconnected
- Larger social changes affect individuals through interpersonal
contexts individuals influenced by networks of individuals
they associate with
- Example: growing up in context where parents are poor start
living together with partner can be turning point that changes
behaviour like start to spend money with more comfort
Final remark
- These principles guide research toward holistic understanding of
human lives over time
Conclusion - Social research changed since development of life course theory
- Life course concept offered insight into understanding human
lives within specific contexts
- Evolution in thinking rooted in theories of social relations, aging
research, developmental psychology
- Integration of historical and ecological context bcs importance
of time and place in understanding ppls’ lives
- Key factors in life course studies: bridging various levels of
analysis macro-level examination of certain topics like
individual life course trajectories without considering the
broader context
- Need interdisciplinary collaboration to study multiple levels of
life course
- Lifelong studies important to capture aspects of life and events
that influence life course
- Life course theory crucial framework to understand interplay
between time, context and individual development
Hirschi & Gottfredson Age and explanation of crime
1983
Intro - Explore relationship between age and crime
- Age is easy to measure, but implications and meanings of age-
crime relationship had to understand
- Theoretical perspectives have reached consensus regarding age-
crime relationship
- Theories: ppl stop with crime at some point (maturational
reform, aging-out) importance of age in crime explanations
- Desistance: stopping of criminal career/behaviour
