ABSTRACT
Within-person change and within-person processes are central concepts in theory and research in developmental and life-course criminology (DLC). Within-person processes refer to any changes that happen within a person over time. In this chapter we argue that understanding within-person change is central to understanding the development of antisocial behaviour, a key concern of developmental and life-course theory. However, developmental and life-course research often uses statistical models that emphasise differences between people, rather than changes within people. In this chapter, we aim to showcase the potential of within-person methods to answer critical questions about the development of offending and antisocial behaviour and to push the DLC field forward. We provide a critical overview of various ways in which within-person change is described and tested in developmental and life-course criminology. We then set out some opportunities for a within-persons perspective for developmental and life-course researchers and some of the challenges involved. We suggest that the key to using within-person methods to advance DLC lies with creative thinking about theory, hypotheses, data collection, and statistical modelling. Finally, we suggest that a within-persons perspective can offer the opportunity to test new hypotheses from theory and help develop substantive areas of developmental and life-course criminology research, such as how risk factors accumulate.
