The Development of Criminal and Antisocial Behavior Theory, Research and Practical Applications

This edited book summarizes the current state of knowledge on the development of criminal and antisocial behavior over the life course. It focuses mainly on the developmental perspective, which has had a paradigmatic influence on current theoretical and empirical works in criminology. With a multidisciplinary perspective, the book reviews: (a) the fundamental concepts of developmental criminology; (b) the risk factors and developmental processes related to the most salient personal (e.g., genetics, personality) and environmental (e.g., family, peers, school) domains explaining the development of criminal and antisocial behavior; (c) the developmental issues related to a number a special themes (e.g., women criminality, street gangs) and (d) the applied and policy implications of research in developmental criminology. In each chapter, prominent researchers from different disciplines such as criminology and psychology summarize the state of knowledge on a specific topic, identify the shortcomings of past research, offer recommendations for future research needs.

I. Theoretical Foundations of Developmental Criminology.- Understanding Crime and Antisocial Behavior within a Multidisciplinary and Developmental Perspective.- Fundamental Concepts in Developmental Criminology.- Differences in Degree or Kind?- II. Risk Factors and Developmental Processes.- Genetic Factors.- Prenatal, Perinatal, and Neonatal Risk Factors.- Family Risk Factors and Processes.- Peer Group Risk Factors and Processes.- School Risk Factors and Processes.- Community-Level Risk Factors and Processes.- Personality Risk Factors and Processes.- Resilience and Developmental Trends.- Criminal Careers and Desistance.- III. Special Themes in Developmental Criminology.- Women and Crime.- Delinquency and Substance Use.- Street Gangs.- Sex Offending.- VI. Applied Policy Implications of Developmental Criminology.- Early Prevention Programs in Infancy and Childhood.- Clinical Interventions with Adolescent Offenders.- The Link Between Situational and Developmental Prevention.- V. Conclusion.- The Future of Developmental Criminology.

Lila Kazemian is a graduate of Université de Montréal in Canada, and she earned the Ph.D. in criminology at the Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge in England. She joined the sociology faculty of John Jay College in 2006 after completing a post-doctoral fellowship funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC, UK). Her research interests include life-course and criminal career research, desistance from crime, offender reentry and comparative criminology.