ABSTRACT
Developmental criminology is concerned with the development of offending and antisocial behaviour from the womb to the tomb, and especially with continuity and change throughout life. It also focuses on the effects of risk and protective factors, and life events, at different ages on the course of development. Developmental criminology is similar to life-course criminology in many respects, and the two are commonly linked in developmental and life-course criminology (DLC). In contrast, developmental criminologists carry out prospective longitudinal surveys, which are important in avoiding retrospective bias in reporting and in calculating prospective probabilities. In studying the development of offending, the most important phenomenon is the age–crime curve. In most times and places, the aggregate rate of offending increases up to a peak in the teenage years (usually) and then decreases more gradually in the 20s and beyond. Many DLC researchers are now focused on investigating, explaining and preventing the intergenerational transmission of offending and antisocial behaviour.
