Crime in the Making: Pathways and Turning Points Through Life.
About: This article is published in Social Forces.The article was published on 1994-01-01. It has received 3835 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Social control theory.
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TL;DR: Existing evidence supports the hypothesis that the need to belong is a powerful, fundamental, and extremely pervasive motivation, and people form social attachments readily under most conditions and resist the dissolution of existing bonds.
Abstract: A hypothesized need to form and maintain strong, stable interpersonal relationships is evaluated in light of the empirical literature. The need is for frequent, nonaversive interactions within an ongoing relational bond. Consistent with the belongingness hypothesis, people form social attachments readily under most conditions and resist the dissolution of existing bonds. Belongingness appears to have multiple and strong effects on emotional patterns and on cognitive processes. Lack of attachments is linked to a variety of ill effects on health, adjustment, and well-being. Other evidence, such as that concerning satiation, substitution, and behavioral consequences, is likewise consistent with the hypothesized motivation. Several seeming counterexamples turned out not to disconfirm the hypothesis. Existing evidence supports the hypothesis that the need to belong is a powerful, fundamental, and extremely pervasive motivation.
17,492 citations
TL;DR: The pioneering longitudinal studies of child development were extended well beyond childhood and eventually followed their young study members up to the middle years and later life, generating issues that could not be addressed satisfactorily by available theories.
Abstract: The pioneering longitudinal studies of child development (all launched in the 1920s and 1930s) were extended well beyond childhood Indeed, they eventually followed their young study members up to the middle years and later life In doing so, they generated issues that could not be addressed satisfactorily by available theories These include the recognition that individual lives are influenced by their ever-changing historical context, that the study of human lives calls for new ways of thinking about their pattern and dynamic, and that concepts of human development should apply to processes across the life span Life course theory has evolved since the 1960s through programmatic efforts to address such issues
2,532 citations
01 Jan 2003
TL;DR: The life histories and future trajectories of individuals and groups were largely neglected by early sociological research as discussed by the authors, and the life course perspective is perhaps the pre-eminent theoretical orientation in the study of lives.
Abstract: Today, the life course perspective is perhaps the pre-eminent theoretical orientation in the study of lives, but this has not always been the case. The life histories and future trajectories of individuals and groups were largely neglected by early sociological research. In the pioneering study, The Polish Peasant in Europe and America (1918-1920), W. I. Thomas (with Florian Znaniecki) first made use of such histories and trajectories and argued strongly that they be investigated more fully by sociologists. By the mid-1920s, Thomas was emphasizing the vital need for a “longitudinal approach to life history” using life record data (Volkart, 1951, p. 593). He advocated that studies investigate “many types of individuals with regard to their experiences and various past periods of life in different situations” and follow “groups of individuals into the future, getting a continuous record of experiences as they occur.” Though this advice went unheeded for decades, Thomas’s early recommendations anticipated study of the life course and longitudinal research that has become such a central part of modern sociology and other disciplines.
2,401 citations
TL;DR: The findings of this study reveal an important, and much underrecognized, mechanism of stratification in the criminal justice system, which presents a major barrier to employment, with important implications for racial disparities.
Abstract: With over 2 million individuals currently incarcerated, and over half a million prisoners released each year, the large and growing number of men being processed through the criminal justice system raises important questions about the consequences of this massive institutional intervention. This article focuses on the consequences of incarceration for the employment outcomes of black and white job seekers. The present study adopts an experimental audit approach—in which matched pairs of individuals applied for real entry‐level jobs—to formally test the degree to which a criminal record affects subsequent employment opportunities. The findings of this study reveal an important, and much underrecognized, mechanism of stratification. A criminal record presents a major barrier to employment, with important implications for racial disparities.
2,352 citations
TL;DR: The life course has emerged over the past 30 years as a major research paradigm as mentioned in this paper, and distinctive themes include the relation between human lives and a changing society, the timing of lives, linked or interdependent lives, and human agency.
Abstract: The life course has emerged over the past 30 years as a major research paradigm. Distinctive themes include the relation between human lives and a changing society, the timing of lives, linked or interdependent lives, and human agency. Two lines of research converged in the formation of this paradigm during the 1960s; one was associated with an older «social relationship» tradition that featured intergenerational studies, and the other with more contemporary thinking about age. The emergence of a life course paradigm has been coupled with a notable decline in socialization as a research framework and with its incorporation by other theories
2,246 citations