A General Pathway v. Multiple Pathways: Examining the Trajectory of Juvenile Violent Crime

• In Event: Examining Theoretical Propositions for Offending Career Dimensions

Abstract

The study of crime, specifically, criminal career pathways and methods of crime control has been a major source of public and academic debate. In response to the increase in the number of violent crimes committed by juveniles, criminologists have studied the risk and protective profiles of youth to better understand their pathways to violent crime, albeit in different ways. The purpose of this study was to examine how two dominant theories, Gottfredson & Hirschi’s A General Theory of Crime and Moffitt’s Developmental Taxonomy, explain violent crime in order to determine if these theories better our understanding of youths’ pathways to violent crime separately or in conjunction with one another. Using an ordinary least squares regression, these two theories were analyzed on their predictability of violent crime. It was found that both theories contain strong predictors that explain violent crime. However, there are other variables that need to be considered for effective policies and intervention programs to be developed, in order to decrease youths’ risk of persistence and escalation in violent crime.

Author

• Krysta Dawson, Simon Fraser University